Frozen Flames
by burninghorizon
Summary: Twilight Continuation! Following on from my other fan fiction Burning Horizon. Relationships have reached their limits. How much further can they stretch before everything snaps? Fire and ice cannot coexist for long, and only havoc can reign in the end...
1. Chapter 1

Note; This is a Twilight Fan Fiction that follows on from Stephanie Meyer's works. However, I have already posted another Fan Fiction that comes before this one. To understand the story it would probably be best to check out that one before you start on Frozen Flames. It is called; Burning Horizon. To all returning readers: HEY! Here it is. Hope you didn't lose too much sleep over the ending;) Just kidding. It wasn't that great.

Hey! Sorry this is a little later than expected, I totally forgot that I had said I'd put this up on Thursday. Following on from Burning Horizon and the cliff-hanger ending.

Twilight VI

Frozen Flames

_**Chapter One; Curtains **_

_**Jacob's body was burning hot and rough against my skin, whilst on my other side Edward's was satin smooth and a perfectly natural temperature. What wasn't normal was that Edward's hands were reaching around my body to try and snatch the wolf whose large muzzle continuously snapped on alternate sides of my face. Those jagged teeth were so close that I could feel the air rushing out of the way as they opened and closed. Amongst the madness I knew one thing for certain, those two could not – under any circumstances – be allowed to reach each other. Neither of them could die without someone else at least attempting to follow them, as much as I had tried to stop that sort of passion between Renesmee and Jake. Inside the house only a couple of minutes ago she had proved that nothing he could do would knock that relationship down, I doubted that him killing her father would affect it much either. Not the way Jacob made her feel like she was the most precious girl in the entire world. Somehow, though it felt completely impossible to at the moment, I knew that I should be glad that she had somebody who would care for her as intensely as Edward cared about me. Just in case the worst came to the worst, because when she had Jake, I knew she wouldn't ever be alone if everyone else disappeared. Nothing could stop him loving her, it should be amazing to imagine, but it seemed so far from it in my mind...**_

"_**Bella... please... move...you'll...get...hurt," Edward growled viciously between trying to dodge around me. It was surprisingly easy to continue to block his way because I knew that he wouldn't try anything ridiculous with me in the picture. No baring teeth or raking nails, no twisting back flips or reckless dashes to reach his enemy. On the other hand, Jacob would. His hard, angular jaw bone slammed into my hip and knocked me sideways a couple of feet. The one short second that I was out of my defensive position was enough for them to strike out. Instead of trying to intervene again, I was stuck watching on in horror. Hoping and praying that one of them would soon come to their senses before the other got a clear swipe at their throat. **_

_**Edward slammed his foot into Jake's cheek. It was only after staring in horrific awe that I realised that the bone was already an odd, distorted shape. Oh, his healing. It had been so fast that I had forgotten about the injury Edward had given him inside. All that remained of it was the slightly crooked shape and the disgusting congealed blood that covered his attacker's arms and shirt. I lost sight of Edward for a quarter of a second as he spun so fast out of the way of Jacob's claws that he appeared invisible. When he reappeared by Jacob's right side he wound his hands at an frighteningly fast speed into Jake's thick, matted fur in an attempt to throw the heavy body further away from me. However, as the muscles in his arm wound for the throw, Jacob jerked backwards causing Edward to fly through the air and smash into an old pine tree opposite me. The wood splintered, cracked and shattered – landing on the top of my snarling husband. **_

"_**YOU'LL REGRET THAT JACOB BLACK!" I screamed. My legs carried my forward at an amazing speed; I could even go so far to say that it was the fastest I had ever run - until I heard a strangled voice behind me. **_

"**Help, please, don't touch - help." **

_**I froze with one hand suspended in the air and twisted round to face where the noise came from. Renesmee was laid on her side with both hands locked around her pale, delicate neck. She looked awful! How exceptionally unobservant had I been today? How could I not have noticed how ill she was? I took two steps towards her until something painfully sharp dug into my shoulder. Two blurry seconds later and I too had slammed into a tree, face first. Agony ripped through my chest and down my arm, werewolf bite, not good. I screamed a skin-peeling scream – more in fierce anger than in pain. **_

"_**Bella, what the hell has he done to you?" Edward yelled. Jacob's strength had flipped be about 100 metres back into the forest, either it was increasing with age or he was really mad. I was most convinced on the second option. I touched my tingling fingertips to the open crack in my flesh but I couldn't bring myself to look at it, just in case what I saw was too horrible for me to bear. I had never been a great one for gore. **_

"_**I'm fine," I hissed to myself with gritted teeth, Edward would hear me. Unsurprisingly, he appeared by my side as I finished the last sound.**_

"_**Are you okay?" he asked, leaning around me to examine the damage. **_

_**I winced as my body fought to protect itself; my sharp venom was already rushing towards the damage to do its unbelievably painful work. Time to experience something that I didn't want to feel again...**_

"_**I'll be fine," I stated firmly, trying to avoid his eyes for fear of him understanding how much this was all shaking me. **_

"_**I'll make him regret that, I swear," he snarled, pressing his lips lightly to my cheek. "Stay here."**_

**Stay here – as if! **_**When would he get to grips with the fact that my humanity had gone? I was no longer fragile and totally incapable of protecting myself**_**. **_**I sprung up to my feet as quick as he did and shadowed his movements back towards the open garden. For once, he didn't even bother trying to stop me walking directly towards a threat. It was as if he was hoping for my control to slip and for me to rip open Jacob's stinking throat. As the trees opened up Edward's whole body rippled and tensed in anger and as I slid to his side mine almost mirrored his exact actions.**_

_**Jacob was nuzzling Renesmee's limp body with his snout, letting out strange ripping sounds as he did so. His eyes were wide and his pupils almost swamped them completely. She looked as pale as a corpse, only the sound of her breathing stopped me from falling down to my knees. My vision shone a fierce red as he placed one paw on her chest; those teeth were so close to her flesh, those claws resting on her skin, one second and...**_

"_**GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU MONSTER!" I screeched, running over towards them. Edward beat me of course, slamming into Jacob's body and setting off another burst of rough snarls, growls and snaps. The two of them flung each other away from Renesmee, clearing my route to enter. **_

"_**Did he hurt you Ness?" I asked, running over and placing both of my hands on her face. As I did so my shoulder burned angrily, protesting against movement, it would just have to grit its teeth like I was doing. **_

"**No, he wouldn't, please, stop," **_**she mouthed, only the tiniest squeaks of sound emerging from her lips. Her beautiful eyes were glazed over in an odd fashion, the waiting tears shimmering a little in the soft evening sun. Leaves flew up into the air around us as a gentle breeze blew. Why could she not be happy, why couldn't all of us be happy right now to complete the perfect picture? How had everything gone so wrong? Now was one of those moments where I wished that I had a time turner – something to allow me to relive the past, erase everything that has ruined what we had. Because we did have it, for four years we had managed to live as close to a perfect life as possible! I had never realised before that Renesmee had spent so living in a protective shell with us that everything would probably ten times more scary for her little mind. A little shiver ran down her skin as I touched her arm. For some reason, this made that spiky burning sensation of tearless crying return to the back of my eyes. Only a second later I heard approaching footsteps and out of sheer instinct my gaze flickered up and my body tensed to fight.**_

"_**Go Jacob, now, and I won't kill you unless I see you again," Edward shouted, backing slowly towards where I was crouched. **_

_**Protectively, I spread my arms out to the side to create some sort of barrier between Renesmee and the advancing wolf. Her eyes were now shut and I could barely stay standing again. Jake's expression was defiant and somewhat challenging like he was beckoning Edward forward for a scrap to the death. He needed a serious knock down and seen as nothing would work from Edward, I would have to serve up some words.**_

"_**Jacob you're ruining her life!" I whispered. "Please let her live a peaceful life. Unless all you want is your own happiness because you certainly don't make her happy. Not now. Not after what you did."**_

_**To my relief, some of the cocky glint faded from his dark eyes. More footsteps had started to sound behind us on the gravel driveway, there was no way that he would get what he wanted now...**_

_**Rose almost pushed me out of the way as she scrambled to reach her niece. Automatically she placed her hand over Nessie's chest to feel for that smooth rising and falling that signified life – surely she could hear the heartbeat, or maybe not over Edward and Jacob's snarls. Emmett paced to stand next on the right side of his brother with Jasper taking the left. Carlisle and Esme stood about ten metres behind the wolf, both of their faces furious and stone like. Alice was flitting around us all in a circle, stopping at different points and then quickly moving on like she couldn't decide where to be - protecting Renesmee, sticking with Jasper or getting ready to attack if things got sticky. **_

"_**Go Jacob," Edward demanded one final time. He was surrounded; there was no way of doing anything else other than complying with his orders without getting ripped apart. There was no way that he wouldn't understand that with vampires in all directions. With one final ear-splitting howl that echoed through the air for several seconds, he turned and shot into the forest leaving only a horrible smell behind. As his rusty fur disappeared into the darkness I looked down at my little girl. Her eyes were still shut, her mouth shut and I guessed that her heart was shut too, but that didn't really interest me right now because her breaths were short, strangled and sharp. **_

"_**Edward, Carlisle!" I choked in sadness. **_

_**They were both by my side in a second yet instead of Edward's hands shooting to where they were needed, he pressed them against my scorching skin, cooling it the slightest bit. **_

"_**She's fine, she just needs some rest and some care," Carlisle assured me. "Rose, will you go sort out the couch so she can go on there?"**_

"_**Of course," she whispered, springing up and vanishing inside. I could hear her rattling around in draws and opening cupboard doors almost instantly – muttering things as she went, mainly gruff insults. Carlisle straightened up and walked slowly across the garden to where Esme was still stood.**_

"_**Are you OK?" Edward asked as he left. How many times did he need to be told? As much as I loved him there were some moments where I wished that he would get his priorities the right way around. **_

"_**Why are you asking me that?" I asked, a little annoyed and very shaken up. My words probably came out a little harsher than I had wanted them to. **_

_**For a couple of seconds he eyed my shoulder and then lifted his head back up to me as if that was the simple answer. **_

"_**Should I not be concerned?" he asked in a way that sounded like he was really asking me my opinion.**_

_**I was speechless at his failure to understand me, at his sheer blindness to everything except me. But I didn't want to get angry at him, I couldn't, so instead of coming out with what was really on my mind, I just uttered "It doesn't even matter."**_

_**He nodded sternly, swung Renesmee up into one of his arms and wrapped the other around my shoulders as we walked swiftly back towards the open French doors. I couldn't stop myself taking one last look over my shoulder into the long shadows that the trees were now creating. No sign of anything, no lurking body or glimmering eyes, he was really gone. What I had seen there was not the Jacob I knew, nowhere near. Just shows how love could drive you to madness, it had totally wrecked him. **_

_**Rosalie had already completed her task with precision. She had dragged the ivory, leather couch across the room so it was positioned almost in the middle of semi-circle of chairs. There were four or five thick blankets piled on the floor and she had already set up the minimum equipment that Carlisle needed to hook Ness up to behind the leather back. There was also a large plastic tub of steaming water placed at the head of the couch with a white towel next to it. Then, lurking near the back wall was Carlisle's medical bag – something that I dreaded seeing from my human experiences. I hadn't realised quite how ill she was, Carlisle would not have asked her to bring out his medical equipment if he wasn't seriously concerned...**_

"_**Bella," Edward murmured anxiously. I realised that I had frozen in the doorway while he had continued on ahead. He was worried again about my health; maybe I should wrench my arm apart again and give him something to really worry about! **_

**Calm, you don't really want to fight with him Bella. **_**I told myself. So I had resorted to self reassurance in my head, everyone was going mad amongst the chaos. **_

"_**Sorry, just thinking..." I whispered, stepping over to the couch. I watched in silence as he laid her on the cushions and then pulled his bloody hands away. **_

"_**About what?" he asked, not looking me in the eye but instead staring sadly down at the battered girl that was his daughter while he dipped his fingers in the water.**_

"_**Everything," I answered - such a simple word with such complication behind it that it was almost unbelievable. **_

_**He bent down to pick up one of the throws with wet hands before tucking it gently around her thin body. She seemed so fragile; I could see the ridges of her bones beneath her skin, like she was draining away. I could barely stand looking at her. **_

"_**Would you care to elaborate for me?" Edward queried as he sat down on the cool floor. I slumped down next to him and with a deep sigh, begun to let the contents of my brain spill out for him – I couldn't resist his curiosity. **_

"_**There is so much to worry about my brain is buzzing. Aro will come back, after what we did to his coven there is no way that he will just let it drop without some sort of revenge. I can't bear the thought of anyone being punished for something that I arranged. Not you or Alice or anybody. One of his targets would inevitably be Renesmee and I don't think that she is strong enough to protect herself. Not now Jake's... elsewhere. If she can't even feel secure with us then how is she going to cope if he and Jane and Caius take her again in this state?"**_

"_**She won't need to protect herself; we'll make sure she's never alone." His face was stony and stern, but seriousness wouldn't be enough in this situation.**_

"_**She's four years old Edward and already she has faced being taken from her family, horrific torture, experiences beyond scary, nearing death, having to fight her feelings, arguing with her family." He flinched at that. "Excruciating pain and not knowing what the heck is going on in a whirlwind of things that she should not even know about. I can't stand knowing that we've dumped her into this out of our own careless actions and not being strong enough to protect her from all of it. What should have been the easiest part of her life has been ruined because I was so stupid! To add to it all she's already in some sort of crazy relationship with a boy about eighteen years older than herself and that boy is a supernatural, mythological, unstable creature who nearly took away her life and has now been sent away for as long as we live."**_

_**It felt good to let all my true feelings out. So good that my voice had raised itself so I was almost shouting, it was so rushed and vicious that Edward had backed away from me a little.**_

"_**Do you regret keeping her Bella?" he breathed. "Do you regret having our child?" **_

_**I choked a little in shock. Was that truly what it sounded like I was saying? **_

"_**Never!" I spluttered. "I will never regret having her Edward. I only regret letting her be so close to all this danger, surely there could have been an easy way to hide her away."**_

_**He shook his head slowly. "After the Volturi found out about her, there was no way that it was going to be possible to hide her in the shadows. That was of Irina's doing, not yours."**_

"_**If I hadn't exposed her to everything so openly then that wouldn't have happened. Anybody could have been out in that forest, anything could have happened to her at that age!" **_

"_**If Irina had not seen Renesmee, Aro would have undoubtedly found out anyway. Something as big and as new as her is impossible to keep from the lot of them - especially when a law break could be involved. Would you prefer her to have been able to play in the open air and develop happily, or her to have been stuck inside only being able to stare out of glass panes and dream about being let out?"**_

"_**You know my answer," I mumbled. "But what is going to happen to her now? What happens when she wakes up and someone has to tell her that she won't see Jacob again as long as she lives if we get our way? What if the venom never leaves her veins? What if...?" **_

"_**Stop," Edward interrupted, taking my face in his firm hands. "What is going to happen to her now is that we are going to take extremely good care of her and help her to get over everything that has happened recently. Carlisle is certain that the venom is draining out of her system, she'll be absolutely fine. I'll tell her about Jacob, or you can if you think she'll listen better, but nothing serious happened between them. After time, she'll simply forget. They did not have enough time to get the relationship that I had with you when I left, it won't be anything like that. And the Volturi, well, Aro took a hard hit and he won't be up from it in a while. I should think we have years."**_

"_**But when he does..." I whispered over him, letting the horrible images of another fight flicker into my mind. **_

"**When**_** he does," Edward said, sighing at my pessimism. "We'll have to cross that bridge, somehow." **_

"_**I can't stand another threat Edward, I just can't." I stared him in the eyes, trying to keep my mouth cemented shut so that no sobs would make their way out. His gaze dropped from mine and his mouth turned down a little in sadness. He brought my face, which was still in his hands, to his chest before dropping his arms to wrap them around my waist. It was a soft hug, one of comfort and one that relaxed me – ever so slightly.**_

"_**You may not regret becoming what you are now, but I certainly regret changing you. You should have stayed the fragile, beautiful human that you were."**_

_**My eyes stung, tears would have fallen if I had the ability. His words somehow sounded harsher in the soft tone that he used. I was about to apologize, or ask why, or let those sobs escape but he beat me to it, holding me to his chest while he spoke.**_

"_**You were not made for being thrown at all of this. You have the heart of a child still. If I had to change you at all, it should have been later - when you were ready. I shouldn't even have married you, as much as I desired to, because you truly weren't ready. You are so much younger than me Bella and you should be nowhere near this danger as well as Renesmee. To think I thought of this as a way of protecting you is heart-wrenchingly stupid..."**_

_**Compared to him I was young, but compared to my daughter I was nowhere near. He was right though, I was terrified. At every single thing that posed a threat I was instinctively petrified. **_

"_**I'm scared, Edward," was all I could utter... **_

"_**That's why I hate myself."**_

_**We sat for a minute in tranquillity. It was far from peaceful inside my head though. There were images of fires, smoke, enemies, eyes, bodies, blood, venom, darkness, torture and Aro, above all Aro, raging through my mind like a horror film. As if one beating wasn't enough, we were going to get another, and no one had a clue when. **_

"_**I can't hear her thoughts! I haven't for ages!" Edward suddenly blurted, dropping his hands and swivelling around to face the couch. **_

"_**My shields over her," I mumbled dully, turning around too. My shield had slid out by itself, moulding around the shape of the sofa behind me, but I hadn't protested. I would do anything to protect her now. "Oh."**_

_**Renesmee was awake, staring straight down through my body to the floor. Her eyes were blank and clouded. This was going to be nowhere near easy.**_

"_**How long have you been awake?" Edward asked with a hint of dread in his voice. I waited for a response from her, begging that she had only just awoken. No words came from her mouth; however, Edward answered his own question after a couple of seconds.**_

"_**Long enough," he breathed, turning to talk to me as if she wasn't there. "She's been awake since we sat down on the floor apparently." **_

_**So she would have heard everything we had said, great. As if she wasn't going to be mad enough with the both of us already.**_

"_**Are you hurt at all Renesmee?" I asked and after a moment of silence Edward hissed, "She isn't going to speak."**_

_**He pulled back the blanket so that it was only covering her legs and then retracted his hands as she shuddered. No longer was she ignoring both of us with her stare, her gaze that was now on her father was so cold that it could freeze an ocean solid. It disturbed him. I could tell that by the way his shoulders tensed and by the fact that he spoke no more words. Awkwardness silenced us all, my stomach was doing horrendous flips and my eyes could not settle upon one item. How Edward was managing to keep his eyes on her confounded me. I listened to Rosalie worrying away to Emmett in the garden and Jasper reassuring Alice that everything was fine as she flicked between visions. Could I not switch places with them, there was no one in a worse position than me at this moment; I would put a serious amount of money on it. **_

"_**Who's going to tell me about Jacob then?" Renesmee shouted, making me jump and Edward retreat a little. "Who was going to be lumbered with that task? Or should I just tell myself and save you the trouble of possibly upsetting yourselves?" **_

"_**You understand why," Edward said. "He's not stable-"**_

"_**I don't understand why! I don't get why you are both denying me everything! He hasn't done anything wrong and yet you were prepared to kill him there and then! I can't bel-" she stopped, gripping her throat with both hands. **_

"_**Are you okay?" I shouted, putting my hands on top of hers. **_

_**She jerked her head from side to side and sat bolt upright, whimpering and wheezing. My frozen heart seemed to be racing. Before Edward or I could shout out for assistance, Carlisle was by my side just as quickly as he had before. Much to Renesmee's annoyance, she couldn't push away the hand's that lowered her body back down onto the couch. **_

"_**Your fine darling, it's just the venom. Just relax, it'll make it easier for you to breathe," Carlisle told her calmly, replacing all the needles and pipes that she had ripped off before the confrontation. **_

"_**It really hurts," she squeaked, moving her hands down to cover her chest instead of her throat. **_

"_**I know," Carlisle whispered. "It should be out of your system in a couple of days, the shoots of pain are getting closer together. Is it around your heart?"**_

"_**Yeah," she croaked, immediately followed by three hoarse coughs. Edward placed the back of his hand on her red cheek that had flushed suddenly from cool and pale to hot and bright. This it seemed was a step too far for her. She used all the strength she had in her and shoved his hand away along with his other hand that was set on the couch supporting his body. Luckily, he managed to slam it down onto the floor before the rest of his body did, clamping his lips together to stop the insults brewing inside flowing out.**_

"_**Maybe you should put her to sleep for a bit Carlisle, she's not herself," he hissed as he jumped up and stormed out of the room. **_

"_**Do you want me to Renesmee?" Carlisle asked, wrapping his hands around her neck in what I guessed was an attempt to cool it down. She shook her head, panting.**_

"_**I'm going to follow Edward," I mumbled, standing up and beginning to make my way towards the door we had entered through. It was obvious that she didn't want me here. My heart was breaking. However, after a couple of slow steps Renesmee let out a horrific scream causing me to reverse at double the speed. Tears sprung from her eyes as she let out another strained screech.**_

"_**No, no, no, shh," I hushed, stroking her forehead. With a staggered breath I kicked Carlisle lightly with my heel, flashing my eyes down to my daughter when he looked up at me. He got the point of my aggressiveness and after preparing a syringe, slid it into her arm where his thumbnail broke the skin.**_

"_**Get Jacob back for me mom, please," Renesmee pleaded as she slipped into silent sleep. It seemed the best way to stop her pain, even if it was not what she wanted. Even though her screams had stopped I knew that she would still be able to feel it.  
This was my entire fault, everything. The guilt was incredibly strong. Ruining her feelings was something that I never wanted to do. **_

_**Another thing that created horribly strong guilt inside my heart was that I swear that I saw a teardrop fall from Jacob's eye as he left, that one small tear of sadness was his entire mental life draining away. **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two; **_

"_**Is she alright? She looks unwell," Alice asked for the tenth time, clutching the arms of her chair tightly. Every time that Renesmee had even twitched the slightest bit she had all but sprung up to her feet in panic. I would have too, if I had not already been reassured by Carlisle's glances every couple of minutes that she was absolutely fine. **_

_**Edward returned only a couple of minutes after he left, all his anger faded and the forest probably a few trees thinner. He did care about her deeply even though her affection for him had taken a strong knock. It was still there somewhere, all her anger was just a show that she was putting on, a tantrum as such. I was certain of it. **_

"_**She's fine, just a little warm," Esme assured her, moving her cool hands from Renesmee's cheeks to her forehead. Carlisle's drugs had kept her asleep for over six hours now and from what Edward could tell, she was making no attempts to pull herself out of it. Her naive mind had convinced itself that Jacob was coming back, or that I would go and fetch him from the forests. Hope was clear in her dreams. Hope that she would be joined by her lover in hours - helpless, pointless hope. No matter how hard she wished for that I was intent on sustaining my wishes. I was sure that I would no longer put her through suffering after her physical pain was over. Everything that I did from now on would be an act of protection or something to make her happy. I would do whatever I could to bring back those perfect days.**_

_**Every chair in the semi-circle in front of the couch was now filled with my family. Esme had dragged her armchair to sit right up near where Renesmee lay, every now and then she would shoot glances at Carlisle to check that what she doing was right. All I was focusing on was that her pain was nearly over, the venom was draining away, bit by little bit.**_

"_**What are we doing now? Are we just going to sit and wait for them to make the decision to kill us? Renesmee can't cope with anymore stress!" Rosalie snapped. Our encounter with Jake had wound her up so much that she still hadn't calmed completely. Even with Emmett making an attempt to massage her shoulders as gently as his huge hands were capable of. Ness was closer to her than any other person excluding Emmett; any problems she faced were hurtled towards Rose too. Edward wasn't keen on their close bond at all; in fact, he had not spoken to his sister much at all since he changed me because of her behaviour previously. Never had he explained the truth about what was going on in her head while I was pregnant. He said it would upset me, so it was obviously out of the question that I would ever find out.**_

"_**What else is there to do?" Jasper asked, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. One fight had been enough for all of us. Especially for my brother-in-law, his memories from the vampire wars of the South did not need another unearthing. **_

"_**I say we find them first and catch them all by surprise – slaughter them all easily," Emmett suggested, allowing a sneaky smirk to cover his face. I soon wiped it away with a glare. How he could find anything like this amusing was totally beyond me.**_

"_**Slaughter what remains of their vast army that we only faced a fraction of before, alone with no help, great plan brother," Edward sighed, breathing deeply against my neck. I was curled up on his lap, it was the only place I felt safe right now.**_

"_**We have friends-" Emmett started before Carlisle interrupted sternly.**_

"_**Who will not be condemned to decimation again if I have anything to do with it, no matter the circumstances." **_

"_**So we're all dead then," Emmett grumbled, picking at the velvet cushions he sat on.**_

"_**If we don't come up with a sensible plan to protect ourselves then of course we're going to be dead," Rose hissed at him, rolling her eyes at his stupidity. "It'll be like lions hunting mice."**_

"_**They may not even attack! We may have proved a big enough threat that they won't try again!"Jasper suggested enthusiastically. He seemed unusually optimistic for a moment like this when our lives were hanging in the balance. Perhaps all his fighting success had gone to his head. He had never really lost a battle in this life...**_

"_**I'll watch them, we'll know if we are going to be put in threat as soon as they do," Alice promised, her eyes glazing over as she spoke. No decision would pass without her spotting it – she was fiercely determined to play her part in this. But everyone knew that not everything would be seen, there were people out there that could be our enemies that she may not have encountered before. Therefore, we needed other defences too.**_

"_**There is no point in running, they'll find us. There is no point in picking a fight if we're not even sure that they are going to and there is no point in giving up, because we've lasted this long together. We have to stay together from now on, as much as possible, just in case someone slips through Alice's sights. If we panic, nothing is going to happen apart from Renesmee getting more and more frightened. We just need to stay calm and as one, for now. We have got through this before. There is no reason why we can't do it again!" Edward said in a solemn voice, silencing all the breaths in the room. Everyone nodded quickly, including me, though his face was behind mine. Emmett stared in awe at his brother, another smile emerging.**_

"_**Where the hell did that come from?" he bellowed, laughing in amusement.**_

"_**I really have no idea," Edward chuckled, kissing my neck tenderly. **_

"_**He is right though, every word makes sense right now," Carlisle said. It seemed like everyone's moods had suddenly lifted dramatically, everyone was smiling – except me. My sense of humour had switched itself off permanently, until there was no more danger. When lives were in threat I found it somewhat disrespectful for them to be laughing like this. **_

"_**Cheer up Bella, we've still got time for thousands of arm-wrestling matches before anybody will come for us," Emmett teased adding, "Plenty more times to rub your face in the dirt!" onto the end in a hushed tone. **_

"_**I'll look forward to it," I groaned.**_

_**Edward leant around to see my expression. His forehead creased at my depression and his hug became tighter in what seemed like an attempt at cheering me up. **_

"_**What's up Bells?" he whispered into my ear, as quiet as was possible. I didn't want to ruin everyone's happiness so instead of speaking, I let out my shield and showed him through my thoughts. All the images that I had seen as we spoke before would now be flickering in his mind. They were cemented in mine, causing nightmares in the middle of the day.**_

"_**Don't worry love, I won't let anything happen to you or Ness, I swear," he breathed.**_

"_**It's not your choice really, saying that to me didn't help before," I snapped harshly, pressing my lips together firmly afterwards in shock of what I'd just said. I'd never argued with him seriously before and I had no intent on changing that now. **_

"_**Okay," he mumbled, returning to kiss my neck and shoulders tenderly. He knew well enough that I didn't want him to argue back without me telling him. **_

_**My heart was falling deeper and deeper with each new worry; there was even a kind of physical pain along with the emotions. However, after a couple more seconds of sinking it seemed to lift as if tied to a hundred balloons. Everything suddenly became brighter and more vivid – the change from darkness to colour took me aback for a while. I almost smiled but before I could, I realised that the feelings were fake and they plummeted back down to earth again. **_

"_**Not now Jasper," I mumbled. Although I would feel better I really didn't want my mood to be lifted by him. It would feel like laughing at a best friend's funeral. I prised Edward's arms off mine and slowly got to my feet to make my way to the window. As much as I wanted to go outside it didn't really feel like the best time, not when my daughter was unconscious on the couch and the whole family was watching me. At least if I stayed in the room nobody could talk about me behind my back. It was raining, just as it probably would continuously for the next week. We'd had our couple of days of cloud for the month, the rest would all be horrible drizzle and storms. No sun, thankfully. It was raining so hard outside that the droplets were striking the windows hard. Watching it fall just made me wonder about Jacob out in the forests, distraught, alone, lost...**_

"_**Bella?" Edward called from behind me. How much would I have to pay for a moment or two of silence in this life? It never stopped anymore! There were never any breaks without sleep, it was driving me insane! Totally and utterly mad!**_

"_**Leave her," Jasper whispered cautiously. I noticed that he didn't try and sooth me again, perhaps my expressions were a little stronger than I wanted them to be. Looking at the distorted reflections of everyone in the window confirmed my suspicions that they were all looking at me. Although, not like I was mad, just in concern. Only one person would understand if I spoke to them now, one person would actually lift my feelings and help me forget all of this madness – Renee. **_

_**Edward had told me that my mother kept pestering Charlie, demanding to know where I was and who I was with. She'd sworn to involve the police if he didn't give her information soon; I was going to have to do something. I couldn't go there myself, with her talent for picking out the slightest hint of change and tension she would probably faint at the sight of me. My perfect features, freakishly pale skin, my eternally youthful face that would not have changed from how she remembered me five years ago and my golden eyes. None of that would pass her by. So seeing her myself was out of the question. No other plans made themselves known in my mind, it seemed impossible to do this right. **_

_**After a couple of minutes of getting lost in my own thoughts I was interrupted by a strange, strangled whimpering sound – like someone was on the edge of tears. I looked behind me rather unwillingly and saw Edward crouched in front of the couch. Renesmee's noises became louder. She was messed up, really messed up.**_

"_**It's just a dream," Edward hushed, removing a couple of strands of damp hair from her reddened forehead. "Everything's alright, it's just a dream darling." **_

"_**What is it?" I asked, keeping back a couple of paces for fear that if I crouched down next to him, it would be a little too awkward to cope with. **_

"_**Jacob."**_

_**I sighed and ran my fingers through my tangled hair, "Right." **_

_**She wasn't going to forget him at all, I knew it. **_

"_**And flashes of before today, a nightmare," he told me as he stroked her cheeks where Esme had previously. **_

"_**Can we do anything?" I asked pathetically. **_

"_**I thought you weren't supposed to wake people up when they're dreaming!" Emmett piped up as I edged a little closer to my daughter. Years of life had not really improved his brain; he was still as educated as a little child.**_

"_**She isn't sleep walking Emmett," I mumbled. "I think you should wake her up Edward. The longer she dreams the more scared she'll become."**_

_**He nodded without turning around and then clasped his hands around the sides of her face delicately. "Renesmee, wake up darling. It's just a dream."**_

_**Her eyelids flickered a little and then opened slowly, burdened with the weight of sleep. Before anyone could say anything else to her, her expression had morphed into one of fear.**_

"_**Please don't hurt me," she whimpered. "Please don't!"**_

"_**What? I'm not going to hurt you Renesmee," Edward gasped. "I would never dream of hurting you, you know that!"**_

_**Her eyes widened even more as she looked down at her arms, her pupils flashing from side to side as she examined something. It took a while before I realised what she would be seeing there – the scars from when she'd fallen from the couch, the bruises from when she hit the ground, the things she blamed Edward for.**_

"_**Don't give me any more of these, please, don't hurt me." She was trembling from head to toe now, her back pressed firmly against the couch back so she was as far away from him as possible. It was like she was still in her nightmare, while she was awake - a living nightmare as such. I couldn't imagine anything scarier for her at this moment. **_

"_**I didn't mean to do that to you, you understood," he spluttered, trying to figure out what to say to her. "I'm your father Renesmee; I will never hurt you intentionally. I love you." **_

"_**Jacob loves me, you don't, I don't love you," she panted, her eyes dazed and confused. **_

"_**You don't love me," Edward breathed. **_

_**She shook her head quickly, repeating herself over and over again. "Please don't hurt me, please!"**_

"_**I won't hurt you," he murmured quietly, standing up and walking over to where I had stood at the window. My heart fell as I caught a sight of his expression. He was so saddened that it almost looked as if he was in physical pain. He'd been stung in the heart by her string of slurred words. **_

"_**Renesmee, listen to me," I said, walking forward and looking her straight in the eye. "You're awake now, everything is okay. It's all going to be fine."**_

"_**Is anyone going to hurt me?" she asked, still panicked and scared. **_

"_**No one would dream of hurting you Ness, no one here," I promised her, it was a promise I knew that I could keep with the second phrase attached. **_

_**Her staggered breaths slowed as she blinked several times as if she was adjusting to the level of light. However, it started to speed again as she looked over my shoulder. I could see what she was seeing in her eyes, the stares of everyone in the room on her. She pushed herself up a little of the couch and then looked down at her cast, that was restricting any movement from where she lay. Instead of trying again she rolled onto her side with her back towards me, pressing her face into the cushions. I ran my fingertips across her back in swirly patterns just like Renee used to do when I'd had a bad dream. It used to help me drift back off to sleep; maybe it wouldn't work with so much more complicated problems than monsters hiding under the bed... **_

_**Seeing her act like this around Edward made me so upset. I could clearly remember the days when he would push her on the swing in the garden and catch her at the bottom of the helter-skelter slide he had carved and constructed from trees in the forest - those days when she was still young, fresh and completely carefree. Whenever Jacob wasn't around he used to entertain her for hours on end with different voices and faces. He used to lay there still in the sunlight while she inspected his shimmering skin with her little fingertips. In fact, he would do anything that she ordered him to do - which was usually quite a lot of things! I would give far more than money to get those moments back, that relationship back into their hearts. Why couldn't she have stayed a little girl for longer? I didn't want her to grow up this fast, if at all! Even I found getting older scary and I faced it at its normal, steady rate. I don't know how I would manage if I was her...**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three; Cakes and Candles.**_

"_**Happy Birthday Renesmee," I mumbled, joining in with the chorus. She'd only just opened her reddened eyes and I knew for certain that this was not what she would want. Despite my debates Alice had forced us all into the room and shoved our hastily bought presents into our hands. Her and Rose were full of enthusiasm. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Jasper seemed generally happy as well, unless their gleaming smiles were forced. I genuinely couldn't tell between real excitement and the fake sort, Edward was right about me being the most gullible person on Earth. Unsure of what Renesmee thought of me at this moment in time, I had decided to stay back in the doorway. There was a gift in my hands that Edward had picked up in town; I hadn't the faintest idea what it was. He had insisted that **_**I**_** should give it to her unless I wanted him to have to clean up the mess when she shattered it. In fact, he hadn't even come in the room. As far as I knew, he was slumped against the wall at the end of the hallway downstairs. **_

"_**What time is it?" Renesmee moaned. The screen of bodies blocked her from my view but I was okay with that. With her so unsteady, seeing me might bring back a vision of Edward and that was something I did not want to do.**_

"_**Seven," Alice answered, suddenly glum."We can go if you want..." **_

"_**No!" Renesmee blurted, a cover-up, just like I would have done if it were me in the bed. "I think the venom is on its way out, so it hurts a little more than usual." **_

_**She just didn't want us here, it was blatantly obvious. I was about to speak my thoughts out loud but Alice had already handed Renesmee her first present, the smile reinstated. I didn't want to ruin my sister's happiness. **_

"_**From me and Jaz." She bent down and started tearing the paper herself. My attention was otherwise occupied as they exchanged thanks and kisses. I had to keep my foot wedged in front of the door to stop myself from running down the stairs and taking Edward into my arms. A couple more minutes...**_

"_**Bella, give her yours!" Alice sang, pulling me by the wrist over to the side of the four poster bed. **_

_**I held out the wrapped box in a way that reminded me of when Rosalie presented my eighteenth birthday gift at the Cullen's party. Her ignorance towards me had hurt a little inside all those years ago, so I decided I ought to say something to cover the gaping hole in my emotions. **_

"_**Happy Birthday honey," I whispered, kissing her lightly on the forehead. She managed to move her lips slightly upwards into a lopsided attempt at a smile. She put the gift down on the covers, unable to support the weight of it with her frail arms. Again, I felt like collapsing with sadness. **_

"_**Thank you." Her voice was hoarse and broken, full of pain. **_

_**When I was sure Alice had turned her back and the others were fairly occupied in conversation I mouthed, "Are you alright?"**_

"_**I'm fine," she lipped back. Simply code for 'no'. **_

_**All I could do was nod before I turned and glided towards my exit. Nobody bothered to stop me as I slipped out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs at speed. I caught the start of Carlisle announcing that he would remove her casts and bandages today as I moved. That should lift her spirits a lot; I had blamed a lot of her depression on the limits of them. **_

_**He was where I thought he would be. Knees to chest, head in hands. "Edward?" **_

"_**Yes?" he croaked, slowly revealing his face from his cupped palms. If he had the ability, there would have been tear streaks striping his cheeks. **_

_**I let out a strange sound, a sort of grunt of pain, as I saw his expression. There were no words that would mend this. The desire to kiss him right there, right then, was almost uncontrollable. However, I managed to hold it together; this was not the most private place in the world. **_

"_**Come with me," I mumbled. Taking his hand would seem too forceful, so I just turned my back and began to run until I was out of the confinement of the house. If I could not hear his feather light footsteps behind me, I would probably snap and start the tearless sobs. **_

_**After five minutes of sprinting through the overgrow ferns and mossy tree-trunks we reached an open space beside the river – full of sprouting plants and a fresh, bitter smell. I took a deep, staggered breath and turned around. Edward slunk closer, dragging his feet along the ground, until his body was pressed against mine. As much as I tried to help it, a frown hung on my face.**_

"_**Why are you upset Bella?" he asked, tilting my head backwards a little. **_

"_**I'm upset because you're upset and I can't stand it," I explained. It was true, pathetically true. His response was so predictable that I barely registered it - just another string of complaints about how I should never waste my feelings on him. How I should only take care of myself. How wasting my many worries on him was a ridiculous thing to do. More and more reasons spilled out of his mouth that were so absurd that they amused me. Although a smile couldn't quite manage to work its way onto my face while his expression was this pained.**_

"_**Shut up," I growled, shoving my lips onto his to stem the negativity. There was barely any passion in his kisses. He seemed to just be accepting mine with no energy at all. I sighed and pulled away gently. "Edward, please..."**_

"_**Please what?" he mumbled, rubbing the toe of his shoe around on the ground so the dirt heaped into random patterns.**_

"_**Don't be upset," I begged. His expression didn't change a tiny bit so I rolled up onto my tiptoes and clutched his frowning face between my hands, forcing him to make eye contact. "Please Edward. Seeing you like this is unbearable. It's just a phase that she's going through. With everything that has happened her mind is messed up, she does love you. Who wouldn't? You're incredible, don't let what the Volturi did ruin that, please."**_

"_**If I was **_**incredible**_**." He paused, a hint of anger flashing into his eyes. "Then why did I injure my own daughter? Why did I let Felix smash your head against those rocks? Why did I not stop Renesmee from almost getting slaughtered instead of standing there like an imbecile? Why did I drag you into this monstrous business?" Now he was shouting. "Why can't I control my anger? Why do I still manage to upset everyone? Why do I even exist when all I can do is cause sadness and hurt?" **_

_**I had so many replies to all of those questions, but none seemed to be able to reach my mouth. So I ended up standing still, slumping back down onto flat feet, taken aback with shock. **_

_**He stared down at me while the anger evaporated. Again, if he was able to produce tears, he would have done. And by the way my face was shown in the reflection in his black pupils, I would too. **_

"_**See," he whispered, his cool breath brushing my skin. "I can't even explain my feelings without upsetting you." **_

"_**No..." I breathed, not sure what I was answering. His arms slid around my back and gently pulled me closer to his perfect body. As he leant down to kiss me I pulled away, something that took an extreme amount of mental strength. **_

"_**I'm going to answer your questions," I announced, pulling them all out of my recent memories. **_

_**He looked confused. "Which ones would they be?" **_

_**Surely he knew, only a minute or two had passed. **_

_**I ignored him and began my answers, fingers crossed that this would be enough to begin the raising of his feelings. "You injured your daughter purely by accident. Everyone knows that you would never dream of harming her intentionally and so does she, her mind is just so messed up that she doesn't understand right now. You were so desperate to keep her safe that your feelings took over. It could have happened to anybody. You let Felix knock me out because you wanted to keep me alive. To even consider giving yourself up for me was enough, but to watch me get hurt and not break your plan must have taken even more strength. I would never have been able to do that. You did all you could to stop Renesmee getting hurt out there. You chased her; you tried to keep her under control. It was no fault of yours that she got into the situation that she did. The fact that you couldn't move to fight Jacob is just a sign that you were too taken by the pain of watching to concentrate on anything else."**_

"_**Too weak," he rebuked in a flat voice. This wasn't working, but I continued anyway. **_

"_**I asked to be brought into this. If we study all the evidence, you'll find that I sort of forced my way into it all. This is what I wanted Edward. This is the life I chose and you should feel no guilt for what I'm put up against, because it was all my choice! Your temper get's the better of you sometimes. I'm not going to lie because you can see straight through me..." He sighed. I saw the muscles in his arms relax; they had been tensed tightly all this time. "You only get angry because you care so intensely for everyone, people that you can't always keep an eye on all the time - people that often fall into danger when you cannot do anything to help, and that is what frustrates you if I have observed correctly. You don't upset everyone, I promise you. And don't you ever doubt your existence again Edward Cullen. Without you, my world would be nothing." I rushed the last of my answers as his lips lingered close to mine. When the last words were out I leaned my head forward and pressed my lips to his, softly, slowly. This time there was a response, even if it was a gentle one, it was there. I was smiling when I pulled away.**_

"_**Well, that told me," he said, lifting one side of his lips into a faint trace of the crooked smile that I loved so much. **_

"_**It did," I stated, a swell of happiness filling my heart. "And do you know what I'll do if I ever catch you moping about again, being so silly?"**_

"_**What?" he asked, suddenly extremely curious. There was no way he would ever complain again, I thought, laughing to myself.**_

"_**This," I whispered. Before he even knew what I planned to do I had my hands on his back, and a millisecond later he was flying through the air. As I stepped backwards, he hit the water of the river and sent a wave flying into the air that just missed me, thankfully. I waited, grinning triumphantly, until he resurfaced. A spurt of water flew from his mouth before he shot me a disapproving look. Luckily, there was a grin lurking underneath. **_

"_**You absolute monster!" he laughed, dragging himself out of the river. His eyes were cunning, full of mischief. I knew what was coming before he even made the move, and I also knew that there was no escape from his incredible speed. Giggling hysterically in an extremely high pitch I began to sprint away from him. As much as I tried to move faster than I ever had before, and extremely predictably, his marble hands came down on my shoulders. **_

"_**Edward, don't!" I almost screamed as he secured his arms around my waist, lifted me into the cradle position that I'd grown to crave and spun around to face the direction we'd come.**_

"_**You're going in!" he chuckled as shining droplets ran off his chin. As he started to jog I breathed in his strong scent, so rich, so appealing. My vampire sense of smell only increased the pleasure I felt when I smelt him, it made the electricity flow and the venom in my mouth swell. As I thought about that, I noticed we were nearly back to the riverbank. **_

"_**No!" I shrieked in mock horror, laughing all the way back to the water. He ignored my struggles and after squeezing my tightly to his body, stepped into the raging torrents. The rushing water whipped my hair back as we were submerged, it didn't feel cold to me, but I guessed it truly was. Straggled plants wrapped around my legs and the murky waters were unpleasant to see through, this was no Mediterranean ocean. I pushed off the floor and shot to the surface, where he was already waiting – stood on some sort of ledge. **_

"_**Give me your hand," he commanded, a grin covering his face as I paddled desperately to stop myself from being swept by the current. As a human, I would have already travelled metres and metres. My new strength allowed me to remain in one place, the waves simply broke around me as if I was a rock cemented in place. However, this was not the most comfortable of positions, so I lifted my hand and stretched towards his. Only a second after we touched, I was out of the main stream and stood on a rock ledge beside him. Our feet and legs were still underwater, but it was far easier to stay stationery. **_

"_**Thanks for that," I muttered as I squeezed the water out of my tangled hair. **_

"_**For pushing you in or pulling you out?" he asked, still amused. **_

"_**Would I really thank you for the first one?" I grumbled, attempting to run my fingers through the strands with no luck whatsoever. **_

_**He was still laughing, even if it was silently. "Oh, I don't know..."**_

"_**You're not the one who's going to have to spend hours combing through this lot!" I exclaimed. Unable to put on a face of annoyance anymore, I settled on a faint smile. **_

_**He leapt out of the water onto the bank in a movement so smooth that it left me staring in wonder. Instead of holding out his hand like I expected, he simply sat down on the mossy rocks with crossed legs like a child would. It'd worked. I'd made him happy again. There was nothing more I wanted, there was nothing that would feel more worthwhile than that. **_

"_**Come on Bella," he called, cocking his head to the side in curiosity as I stood there gawking like the love-struck idiot I was. **_

_**Fingers crossed that I wouldn't mess it up, I leapt out of the water onto the ground beside him. Oddly, I felt almost exhausted. So I dropped down next to him and leant against his side tiredly.**_

"_**Thank you," he whispered.**_

_**The smile returned, my heart was swelling in happiness. All my worries flew away for a couple of seconds while his lips caressed my neck.**_

"_**No problem." Was all I could say. **_

"_**Do you want me to sort your hair out?" he asked.**_

"_**You can try I suppose, I doubt you'll get very far with it."**_

"_**Hm," he responded, in a tone that sounded much like he was bringing on the challenge. Before I could move myself into the correct position for him to commence, he had already lifted me up and sat me directly in front of him, facing the river. I felt his hands brushing over my hair, faster and faster, faster than the torrents that flowed along between the rock banks.**_

"_**I bet you're one of the only husbands that would know how to untangle their wife's hair without making a bigger mess of it," I whispered as he brushed the first set of free strands over my shoulder. **_

_**He chuckled at that. "Probably."**_

"_**So, what do you want to do next now we've got the pushing each other in the river bit over with?" I asked, the tingling sensation of his fingers brushing against my scalp making the thoughts in my mind a little fuzzy. **_

"_**I'm sure something will come along sooner or later. A hurricane, an quake..." he replied. I could almost feel his cheeks raise behind me in an inevitable smile. "Have we ever experienced such a thing as a quiet day?" **_

_**I thought about that for a second, attempting to pull out a memory that would prove him wrong. "I guess not!" **_

_**Even when Renesmee was a little girl, not that I didn't still consider her one, we would never have a day that would pass without a series of momentous events occurring. Trees would be knocked over during hunting sessions, the entire garden would be drowned during water fights, windows would be smashed accidently when Renesmee threw her ball to Edward or Jacob a little too hard. There would be arguments over who was going to hold her for the hour, who was going to make her laugh each time and who was going to tuck her in at night. Those would usually be resolved with either chess games or arm wrestles. With Edward, always the latter, to avoid total destruction when he was accused of cheating. **_

"_**I never knew that water could do so much damage to one woman's hair!" he exclaimed, yanking firmly but somehow still lightly on what I guessed was an impossible knot. **_

"_**The mud doesn't help, and neither does the wind..." I grumbled, slumping a little. **_

"_**I could cut it for you if you wanted, a little shorter..." Although this sounded like a genuine offer, there was also a hint of disapproval in there. I'd always had my hair long, and I didn't want to change that now. It sounded as if he didn't want to either. **_**'Brown is warm'**_** he'd once told me. I agreed, there was nothing more warm than my daughter's eyes. While the human blood had still been inside her I hadn't been able to look into them though. Crimson irises could only be seen as a sign of danger and monstrosity. **_

"_**I'm alright, thank you." **_

"_**Good." He aborted the process on my hair and rested his lips against the nape of my neck. "I prefer it longer personally, more elegant, so beautiful." **_

"_**Hm, don't you go dying yours blue," I told him. "Natural is better. **_**More elegant. So beautiful."**

"_**I wasn't planning on it," he whispered. And then we were kissing, softly and delicately. Only while I had my back to him. It was only after I'd twisted around and wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck and entwined my fingers in his hair, that the passion was incredible. **_

_**I could imagine what Renesmee would be doing if she was sat here watching us; pretending to wretch as comically as possible. As would Jacob, his louder with more blush-worthy noises. Well, my Jacob would have, the new Jacob would probably be too absorbed with himself and his love life to notice anybody else's actions. **_

_**We must have sat there for over an hour, not needing to stop and breath, not needing to find a more comfortable position. Surprisingly, my clothes held up for the duration of our embraces. **_

"_**It's our daughter's birthday," Edward sighed as he pulled away. My mouth followed his, but I decided what he was saying was probably more important than my own passion. "We should go and see her."**_

_**His eyes were saddened again. **_

"_**It'll be okay, I'm sure of it," I assured him in a sincere tone. "I promise you, Edward."**_

"_**You'd better consult Alice before you decide to make me any promises!" he sighed, raising his eyebrows. "And speaking of the annoying little devil, we're actually needed back at the house. Or more you in this case, I suppose." **_

"_**It's Renesmee right?" I asked glumly, already knowing the answer. He seemed to know that I knew and didn't respond. "Smiles and laughs and time, that's all it will take to make amends!"**_

"_**I'm not so sure about that." As he spoke his head began to incline towards the ground. I could almost see the depression sweeping over him again like a monstrous cloud. **_

"_**Do you need me to throw you in the river again?" I asked, considering if I would risk doing it or not in my head. "Because I will if you don't stop this!" **_

"_**You could, but I'd only drag you in with me, and I don't think you particularly want that. Do you?" His eyes were wicked, cunning, as if he was also debating whether or not to make a move. The murky water did not appeal to me at all, so I jumped up to my feet pulling him with me. **_

"_**Will you come inside? You can stay back if you want, but she's never going to be able to fix the memories of you if she can't see you acting normally and happily," I explained. As I jogged I wondered why Alice would have called us back. Was something wrong? No, Edward would have been more urgent to return. Taking into account that it was Alice who had called for us, the wrapping paper probably didn't match the walls or the cake – that no one would eat – had sunk a couple of millimetres. **_

"_**We're done!" I heard Carlisle announce to somebody in a gleeful tone. There was a clattering of something hitting the floor, which echoed around a little. They were upstairs, in Carlisle's office no doubt. **_

_**I was confused. "What...?"**_

"_**He's taken her casts off, finally," Edward told me at the exact moment that I remembered myself. His voice sounded a little optimistic. So perhaps I wasn't the only one who predicted that the removal would significantly lift her spirits. **_

_**I bit my lip, being careful not to press too hard. "Is she happy?"**_

_**He smiled wryly at something I was almost certain I would never find out about. "Edging on it!" **_

_**Sometimes, I was unbelievably jealous of his talent. It was a little childish, but it seemed so unfair that he could access nearly everybody's thoughts while they stood there oblivious while I got loaded with a gift that was only useful in confrontational situations and that drained me completely when I used it! To know everyone's minds would be amazing, surely it would be. However, as the saying goes; 'Eavesdroppers never hear good of themselves', I'm sure that hearing thoughts would have its downers. Constantly hearing what a freak people thought you were and how different you were to everybody else would be pretty hard to bear – for me anyway. Edward told me that it didn't bother him at all, he'd heard it all before. I doubted that a lot, time may weaken the pain of insults but it does not erase it completely. Every time we met up with Charlie years ago, I would pray all the way there that his mood was light that day so Edward would not have to sit through being insulted silently over and over. If we had kept up the relationship with my father, I would have had to tell him at some point about Edward's abilities. Although, that would have probably just made it even worse...**_

"_**This way Bella..." Edward chuckled, guiding me to the left by pulling on my arm. "You are so absentminded. Even for a fairly new vampire!"**_

"_**Is that a compliment?" I asked, trying to clear my head by shaking it about in short sharp movements. "Or should I be insulted?" **_

"_**I haven't decided. It is sort of intriguing to watch you think. More interesting than when I can hear everything. I should think it's probably best that I can't hear what's going on in **_**your**_** head, right?" **_

"_**I'm still not fully convinced that you can't!" I hissed in suspicion. **_

"_**Trust me, if I could, it would have saved me a lot of hassle. You were thinking about my gift though, it's not hard to guess. I read someone's mind, you stuck your bottom lip out because you didn't know what was happening and it's all pretty obvious to me now." He leaned around to see my expression, which to be honest, was a little disgruntled. "I'm right, aren't I?"**_

"_**Of course you're right," I grumbled, pushing open the front door and stepping into the brightly lit hallway. "Always right, never wrong."**_

_**Emmett jogged past as we entered, something nestled into his arms. It was only because of the gentle scent in the air that I realised it was my daughter, free of gauze and plaster. I followed after him, entering the front room and dragging Edward in behind me. Emmett ran off somewhere, probably to locate Rosalie, leaving us alone in the room.**_

"_**Why are you drenched?" Renesmee questioned in a croaky voice. A faint smile worked its way onto her face as she appraised me. **_

"_**River, mud, hair, you don't even want to know..." **_

"_**Okay," she laughed. The sound was strange, somehow new to me although I'd heard it so many times before. It was the first laugh to sound from her lips for days, weeks even. "I won't ask."**_

"_**Are you okay?" Edward asked in a soft voice, stepping out from behind me. Her eyes widened as she took him in. So, to prevent any unwanted thoughts, I wrapped my arm around his waist as a gesture to show that he was with me, that it was okay. There was a couple of seconds of silence before she swallowed noisily and cleared her throat. **_

"_**Yeah, I-I'm fine," she mumbled, not making eye contact with either of us. "Carlisle got the casts off so I should be up and about soon."**_

"_**Don't get ahead of yourself miss!" I smiled, optimism, positivity, things I hadn't felt in a while. After a couple more moments of taking in each other, I slid over towards her and sat by her feet on the couch. Edward followed and settled into an armchair to the side, eyes focused on the flat-screen as he flicked through the channels he would never watch. My fingers felt cold compared to Renesmee's legs. They felt how they should feel, instead of being freakishly warmer. Thank god. I ran my finger tips up and down her skin in what would hopefully be a calming move. She was staring at Edward from where she lay, paying no attention to me at all. At least it seemed like a stare, and not a glare. **_

_**It seemed so eerily quiet that when she spoke it made me jump. "Thank you for the present, Dad. You'll have to teach me, I'm not very good at piano yet." **_

_**I was guessing this meant his gift was piano music. From the size of the box there would have to be ten or eleven books in there. Not considered the most exciting gift from others, but for our daughter, it was perfect. Somehow he always managed to buy the best gift possible, I would leave him to do all the shopping in the future. **_

_**He smiled. I knew it was not for the thanks or the politeness that he would be happy. For Edward, it would be for the use of the word 'Dad' that brought the upturned lips. To him, that would be the proof she was going to get over it, just like I'd said. I was a little smug that I had been right.**_

_**Before Renesmee I'd never really thought of Edward as a father, there had been no need to – the prospect had been considered impossible. However, no other person in the entire world would be a better father to her. Other children were different matters. I knew there were amazing parents out there who loved their children irrevocably. However, for my only child, there was only him. His paternal side was utterly amazing to experience. **_

"_**No problem," he muttered, leaning forward a little. **_

"_**I'm sorry for before, I was confused..." she mumbled. **_

"_**You don't need to apologize. After everything you've been through I don't blame you." He sighed, probably because what he truly wanted to say would only set her off again. To be perfectly honest, his name was burning on the edge of my lips too. Interfering, attention-seeking, totally selfish, feeling-less, incapable of accepting things he didn't like, thick, violent, vicious, half-blind with stupidity Jacob Black. **_

"_**In, in, in, in!" I heard Alice command moments before Carlisle, Esme, Rose, Emmett and Jasper filed into the room and took positions on the armchairs and leather pouffes. Everyone was grinning in harmony with each other, a perfect picture, and I couldn't stop my mouth from following the trend. The lights flickered and went off as Edward got to his feet and headed over to the grand piano in the corner. He pushed it around so it was sideways on to us all with ease and took his place on the perfectly polished seat. **_

"_**Ready?" Alice called, her voice bursting with excitement. **_

_**Edward ran his fingers down the ivory keys from high to low and placed his foot on the furthest golden pedal. "As always." **_

_**Then **_**he**_** began to play, and **_**they**_** began to sing. Even though this was the fifth rendition of this song by us all that I'd heard, it didn't stop the tear-jerking spikiness and the mouth-dropping wonder. Edward had incorporated the traditional, simple 'Happy Birthday' tune into a full composition that lasted for a beautiful minute. After their perfectly pitched voices finished the first line of the song I decided I had better join in, as Alice was beginning her approach with a platter balanced on her small hands. My eyes were transfixed on Edward's arched fingers as they caressed the keys recreating his masterpiece. I'd decided. I **_**was **_**going to be able to play like him. He would teach me, if his patience would hold up for the duration of the lessons!**_

_**On the second line of the song I turned my head from the piano and looked down at Renesmee. Even in the dim darkness I could see her faint blush of embarrassment, but her expression was not what I had expected. She was scowling, looking at the floor, with the same expression as she had on after listening to our conversation concerning Jacob Black. Edward's piece faltered a little, some of the notes slurring into the wrong rhythm. Everyone else kept singing, totally oblivious, as her face was turned away from them. I touched her leg with my hand, now strangely thin feeling without its cast. **_

"**Renesmee?" **

_**She jumped, at my touch or my words I was unsure and so quickly that I had a debate with myself on whether I had imagined her frown, changed her expression to a grin. Almost deliberately looking me in the eye to prove her happiness. The notes picked up their normal tune in the air and I joined in the singing again with a little less enthusiasm. But after she hid her face in her hands as Alice presented the amazing, intricately iced cake, just like I would have done, I brushed off the worries to enjoy the moment. **_

"_**Happy Birthday to you," I sung, weaving a harmony between Edward's piece with my incredibly versatile voice. If we ever joined a school again later in life, I would have to drag Alice along to a choir to show off my skills. Previously I would have been afraid of performing and standing on a stage would be the last thing I wanted. Yet now, with new abilities, doing something like that would make me feel worth something. It would make me appreciate everything I now had, and just how lucky I was to have it. Immortality was never something I would take for granted. **_

"_**Make a wish!" Rose shouted over Emmett's roaring cheers. **_

"_**Mom, can you shield me?" Renesmee asked. I raised one eyebrow and looked at her curiously. She answered before I had the opportunity to question. "The wishes don't come true if other people know what they are. If Dad hears it in my thoughts there will be no point and it'll be wasted!"**_

_**I laughed at her logic. "Sure honey." **_

"_**Darn it," Edward whispered sarcastically. **_

_**My shield flowed out around the couch with ease. I flexed it back and forth, trying to fit the shape of it exactly. Renesmee closed her wide eyes for a couple of seconds, a vacant expression on her face. The temptation to pull back the shield and let Edward in on her thoughts was almost overpowering. If he knew, I would also be let in on it. Selfish, selfish, selfish...**_

"_**Done!" she announced. A quick blow of her warm breath and the five baby blue candles were extinguished – along with my hopes of discovering the thing she wanted the most. I just prayed that it wasn't what I thought it would be. **_

"_**Happy Fifth Birthday Renesmee," Carlisle congratulated her as the cheers erupted yet. All I could focus on was that there were only two years left before she would look eighteen years old. That time was too short, the memories would be so limited... Our two years. **_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four; Alice, I'd kill her.**_

"_**Morning honey," I whispered, brushing Renesmee's wavy hair from her eyes as they flickered a little and then leaning back again. "How are you doing?" **_

"_**I'm good," she groaned, the tone of her voice not matching her words. I guessed that it wasn't because of her feelings, but simply because of the time of morning. The sun had only just risen behind the clouds, not that it was at all obvious underneath the grey bulks. I was sat at the end of her bed, propped up against one of the thick wooden poles that held up the cream, silk canopy above. Edward was downstairs and to be honest, I didn't have a clue what he was up to for once. From the sound of stiff pages turning, I guessed he was reading an intensely boring book from one of Carlisle's many shelves. **_

"_**How's the venom?" I asked, trying to sound light-hearted while worry squeezed my heart tightly in my own form of pain. It was nothing compared to what she'd been through. **_

_**She rolled over onto her front and buried her face in the feather pillow. "I think it's gone."**_

"_**It's gone?" Shock, relief, delight, all crossed my mind at the same time. **_

"_**Uhuh." It was obvious that she wasn't in the mood for talking, but I wasn't satisfied with her simple answer. So, I rolled off the bed, sprung over to the wide window at the other side of the room and flung open the curtains so that streams of fresh morning light fell on her. **_

"_**Mom!" she grumbled, rolling back onto her side and scrunching her eyes at the change of colours. **_

"_**Is it totally gone?" I scrutinized. **_

"_**Yeah, I think so." She was silent for a moment, as if taking in her own words, and then grinned in happiness. **_

"_**Well, that's... great!" I grinned too, making my way back to the bed and springing up to crouch next to her. **_

"_**I suppose so, at least I won't have to be hooked up to anything now..." **_

_**Surely there were better outcomes than that, she would soon be back to normal, she would be able to go about day to day life once again. It seemed like she was totally missing the obvious. **_

"_**Do you feel up to going out hunting?" I asked, eyeing her abnormally thin limbs and stating one of the things she had probably missed the most during her time wrapped in gauze and plaster. **_

_**Her smile morphed into a miserable frown. "I... I don't think I can walk yet..." **_

"_**Oh, right." I was getting ahead of myself. Her casts may be off but her strength was nowhere near replenished, it would probably be another week until she would be able to move independently. I missed her running around and the constant mayhem she caused so much... "Did Carlisle fetch the wheelchair from the hospital for you?" **_

"_**Yeah, it's in the garden," she replied, squeezing her eyes shut and then opening them wide – adjusting to the light. **_

_**Instantly confused. "Why is it in the garden?" **_

_**She stared up at the canopy. "I pushed it out the window..."**_

_**I put my head back, as if her odd words had had an actual impact on my forehead, and clonked it on the bedpost. Instead of answering I got up again and headed back to one of the windows. It could only have been the one that I stood at as it was the only one that stretched to the floor and opened at the bottom. Her lack of strength would not have allowed her to **_**throw **_**it anywhere. Pushing was another matter. Sure enough, in the bushes growing beside the brick wall of the house, the grey, padded wheelchair lay lopsided and missing a wheel. **_

_**I looked over at her with a motherly expression of disapproval. "Great. Well, it's going to do a lot of good down there, isn't it?" **_

"_**It was unnecessary and embarrassing."**_

"_**So you'll be fine if I leave you here, you'll be able to get downstairs alright?" Deliberately slowly, I started to walk towards the door, swinging my arms back and forth. It took until I reached the threshold of her room for her to pipe up and stop me from going further. **_

"_**Wait!"**_

_**I sighed sadly, spun around and slid over with my arms outstretched. **_

"_**There you go honey," Rosalie murmured as she handed Renesmee a sealed beaker fit with a white bendy straw. It reminded me of the one I'd had to drink from while trying to keep myself strong enough to have my daughter. Except, there was not as much fear in this room, and it almost certainly wouldn't trigger a near fatal experience if someone knocked it over. The smell that drifted out made my throat burn. However, I'd only hunted yesterday, so I could fairly easily bury that pain under other thoughts. **_

_**Renesmee took a deep breath and smiled up at Rose. "Thanks." **_

_**I turned away a little while she drank in case my control wasn't up to being stretched today. Edward had scuttled off somewhere again after checking Renesmee and I were alright this morning. I'd learnt not to interrupt him when he was in full swing, so I'd left him to get on with whatever had him so rushed. **_

_**A couple of minutes later, I heard the slurp of an empty cup and held out my hand for it as I turned around. She handed it to me without hesitation and turned to an already attentive Rosalie. **_

"_**Can I try and walk?" **_

_**Rosalie's expression, that had previously been hopeful as she was going to be able to help, fell a little in disappointment, concern and sadness. "Are you sure? Are you strong enough for that yet honey?" **_

"_**I want to try," Renesmee responded stubbornly. "Please." **_

"_**Alright." Rose slipped her hand under Renesmee's right arm and put her other arm around her waist. "Alice, give me a hand." **_

_**Alice flitted across the room from the doorway where she'd been observing. I sat still, not wanting to help, because I already knew what the outcome would be and I did not want to be part of her disappointment. I would try and warn Renesmee not to attempt it in case she hurt herself but it wasn't as if she would actually listen to me, so there really was no point in it. **_

_**With four arms around her, Renesmee rose to her feet completely assisted by strengths separate to her own. On those sticks of limbs, there was no way that she was going to be able to walk. She couldn't even stand up alone...**_

_**Alice loosened her grip ever so slightly, and then Renesmee dropped towards the ground. **_

"_**Whoa," Rose shouted, catching her around the waist and bringing her back up to standing. "I'm not sure you're quite ready for this yet Renesmee! You might hurt yourself if you push it too hard."**_

"_**I can do it," she hissed at them both with gritted teeth, setting her feet on the ground again. Her patience had just about reached its limit; she couldn't stand being an invalid any longer. **_

"_**I don't think you can honey," Alice murmured softly, brushing Nessie's cheek with the back of her free hand. **_

_**I braced myself for the argument. It didn't come. **_

"_**Emmett, can you take me upstairs please?" she asked in a voice that was barely audible, her expression frustrated and depressed. **_

"_**Sure kiddo." **_

_**Again I turned away, not sure what to make of the situation. I wanted to follow, but my instincts told me that the action would only worsen the situation or cause more upset than was needed. So instead, I waited in silence until the rest of them returned to going about their normal business. It was only when Edward's long hand appeared, extended, in front of my face that I decided to take it and stand up. However, I didn't even get a chance to speak to him, as Alice had stepped between us. **_

"_**Are you excited?" she asked, a gleaming grin on her face. **_

"_**Why would I be excited Alice?" Her own enthusiasm had me scared. Whatever she'd planned I was almost certain I would be against it; my sister-in-law had very different ideas about fun to me. **_

"_**Bella." She rolled her eyes at me as if what she was talking about was blatantly obvious. "It's September 13**__**th**__**... Your birthday! You're now officially twenty-four years old! Congrats!" **_

"_**Alice..." I growled, not able to release my full rant of anger because of the strength of it all. **_

"_**Don't get all huffy on me. Just because you're not aging it doesn't mean I'm going to forget your birthday. What sort of monster do you think I am?" she exclaimed. **_

"_**And it doesn't mean Alice is going to get out of an opportunity to shop," Edward added for my benefit, hinting what was coming at me. **_

"_**Well, thank you for spoiling the surprise," she growled at him furiously. She grabbed a thick, hardback book from the coffee table next to her and flicked her wrist so it was flying towards her brother's face. Of course, he caught it instantly with a smug smirk. **_

_**He shrugged. "She doesn't like surprises, I was simply doing you a favour." **_

"_**Whatever, you'd better get your lot over with. You're not coming with us." With that she glided out of the room, making a show of slamming the door behind her. **_

"_**Well, thank you for spoiling the surprise," he uttered sarcastically. **_

"_**Hate you!" she shouted from the hallway. It wasn't a totally serious tone, thankfully. I didn't want to have to mediate to prevent a fight later on, they'd probably end up taking their argument over to a game of chess anyway. And that would mean inevitable boredom for me and everyone else. **_

"_**Love you too," he shouted back at her. **_

_**I was still scowling from Alice's announcement when he turned back to face me. "Do you fancy murdering her later, I could use your help?" **_

"_**Possibly, it depends on the nature of her thoughts later today," he laughed, before altering the tone of his voice to something that sounded like pleading. "She's only trying to make you enjoy yourself Bella, give her a bit of credit for making an effort to do something." **_

"_**This was part of the deal though!" I stressed, running my fingers through my hair. "After I was changed none of you were meant to celebrate my birthdays. Technically, they don't exist anymore."**_

"_**Technically, they do still exist. It is the day on which you were born, that isn't going to change because you're not growing up." He eyed my frustrated expression in amusement. "She'll get bored after a couple of decades. That's why we don't celebrate any of **_**our **_**birthdays seriously anymore, everyone got bored of the concept. She's only gotten back into it recently because Renesmee liked the atmosphere of it all." **_

"_**A couple of decades," I scoffed. As if I was going to be able to put up with celebrations every year for decades. He picked up on my irritation.**_

"_**I could always blackmail her for you, but I doubt it'll really work." That was an intriguing idea. I would love to see Alice scrabble to save her closet of designer clothes from Edward's grasps if she upset me. But I had more important things to think about now, so I shoved that particular issue to the back of my mind and got to the point. **_

"_**What did you want to do before she drags me out to the city anyway?" **_**Please don't say it's something to do with my birthday. Please don't say it's something to do with my birthday. **

"_**I sort of..." he started, unable to finish his sentence. It was about my birthday, I knew it. Nothing else would have him guilt struck and tongue-tied. **_

"_**You sort of what?" I demanded.**_

"_**I've got you a gift for your birthday," he admitted. "Please don't go mad." **_

_**I frowned, but decided to give him chance. "What sort of gift?" **_

"_**Well, two gifts. I didn't spend much on the first, I promise you," **_

"_**Okay..." **_

_**He passed me a rectangular parcel from the couch, wrapped in delicate floral paper with a cream ribbon tied elegantly around it. "Happy Birthday Bella." **_

"_**Thank you," I mumbled while I picked away the paper, revealing a leather book inside. Curious, I quickly slid off the strap fastened around it and let the pages fall open. There were pictures, so many pictures, covering all of what must have been a hundred pages. They were stuck on coloured pages with carefully scripted handwriting filling all the gaps. **_

"_**It's a sort of scrapbook, I managed to find some pictures from before you were changed, and there are plenty in there from recently too." He turned the pages for me. I saw pictures of me clutching Renesmee to my chest, pictures of Alice perched on Jasper's shoulders and so many more that my mouth fell open a little. "Do you like it?" **_

_**I snatched the book out of his hands and begun to flick through the pages, studying each photo with extreme concentration. I heard him chuckling softly, but I didn't look up from the beautiful images of my past. The writing in between them was as interesting as the pictures themselves. He'd written poems, lyrics, memories down onto the paper to accompany what I was seeing. **_

"_**When...?" I breathed, trying to figure out how long we'd been apart recently. **_

"_**You don't understand how difficult it's been to try and sneak away from you for a couple of minutes. That was helped along by the fact that I usually cannot bear to be away from you. I've been adding to it every spare minute I've had," he explained proudly. So that was what he had been frantically running about doing this morning. Surely not all this morning though! There was so many pictures, so much detail! "Do you like it?" **_

"_**Of course I like it Edward. I just don't understand how you did it all." My answer was interrupted by my own kiss. I couldn't seem to stop my lips from pressing against his, again and again. Until he pulled away for a brief moment. I felt his hands brush against the back of my neck for a couple of seconds.**_

"_**What...?"**_

"_**Your other gift," he interrupted. **_

"_**The one you did spend money on..." I concluded, not looking down at what he'd fastened around my neck in case what I saw was ridiculously, ridiculously expensive. I could guess what it was – most probably a piece of jewellery from a royal family or a one-off designer diamond. **_

"_**Yes," he admitted shamelessly.  
"And you're not going to tell me how much you spent. No matter how many times I ask you or beg you to tell me. Because it will only upset me. Right?"**_

"_**Right," he agreed with a smirk. **_

"_**Good," I growled, pressing my lips back against his. I didn't know how long we lasted standing up, but the next time I pulled away I was on the ground, with him on top of me. Not that we were bothered at all. And so the perfection continued. **_

"_**Come on Bella," Alice's voice shouted around twenty minutes later. I couldn't find the will to pull myself away from Edward. So I didn't respond. She would be able to hear us anyway. **_

"_**Bella, I'm going right now," she yelled impatiently almost immediately afterwards. **_

_**I don't care Alice, I thought in my head – hoping she would be able to pick up on it somehow through glancing at my future. Shopping was a form of hell compared to this. Edward's lips slid down from mine, brushing my chin and slipping down my neck. It made me wonder how much I smelt like my previous self to him. I could never really smell Edward when I was human, but I know that he could pick up on my human scent from a considerable distance away. It was obvious that I wouldn't smell appealing in the same way as before, as blood no longer ran in my marble veins. But I would have to ask him sometime to explain if the overall scent had altered. For some reason, I desperately hoped that it hadn't. I didn't want to deny Edward of something he adored. **_

"_**I'll go by myself!" Alice screeched, enraged. **_

_**I tilted my head upwards to speak. "Go by yourself Alice, you'll have more fun without me!"**_

_**Edward's lips reached mine again. **_

"_**Right! You asked for it Bella!" she shrieked. "Emmett!" **_

**Crap, Emmett. **

_**I pushed myself up, shot over to the couch to retrieve my bag, straightened my shirt out and ran towards the door – all in the amount of time it took Edward to prop himself up on his elbow. **_

"_**See you later!" I called, sprinting along the hallway towards the front door. I heard him sigh deeply and then his back hitting the floor softly as he presumably lay back down. Alice stood on the doorstep with a deeply annoyed expression on her face. **_

"_**What do you want Alice?" Emmett bellowed from somewhere upstairs. **_

"_**Doesn't matter, carry on!" **_

"_**I hate you," I snarled. **_

"_**Good, that's two. Let's see how many I can tot up today." **_

"_**You are so irritating Alice. Just wait until you and Jasper are having a moment." **_

"_**What are you going to do Bella? Emmett won't mess with me."**_

"_**Edward will," I snapped, a little smug that I had my own secret weapon to equal hers.**_

_**That shut her up. **_

"_**Try them on, try them on!" **_

_**We were in the middle of a high-end store filled with towering metallic rails and glimmering mirrors. Not at all a place where I felt comfortable. Alice danced around the manikins pointing out different pieces that would suit my complexion – or something along those lines. I had no idea whatsoever. The silk and leather designs were all so complicated and confusing. I preferred my jeans and a simple tee. The noise of people's babbling voices around me had just blended into one sound as I followed Alice around. And I was totally out of it when she shoved the first item into my arms. **_l looked down.

"_**Alice, I don't think I'm going to want to walk around in leather trousers. They're not really my thing..." I began to moan. **_

"_**They're **_**in**_** Bella. I don't care if they're not what you used to wear. I'm trying to change your fashion sense here. Please be a little more open-minded." She fluttered her eyelids at me. "Try them on Bella. Edward deserves to see you in something a little more flattering. And you deserve to dress better than in stretch cotton and sweatpants every day." **_

_**Her persuasions worked incredibly easily on me. "Fine, I'll look like an idiot though." **_

"_**You won't, you look good in them! Go in, try them on. I'll bring some more stuff!" **_

_**She spun on her heels and slid away between the queue of humans waiting for one of the velvet curtained cubicles. I didn't see the point of trying them on if Alice had already seen me in them, it wasn't as if I was interested much in my clothing. But, trying to avoid a mid-shop argument, I joined the back of the queue and waited. No shop that I had ever been in before had been this posh. Guess this was what **_**designer**_** was all about. There were uniformed assistants stood by the entrance to the changing rooms, if they could even be classed as that. What I had thought to be simple cubicles were actually just where unwanted clothes were being hung up on silver rails. The actual changing rooms were further inside. From what I could see, they were actually individual rooms fitted with full length mirrors and leather couches for friends and relatives to sit on. **_

"_**Just the one item?" the assistant asked my politely as I reached the front of my queue. **_

"_**At the moment, my sister is bringing more. Could you let her through when she gets to the front please?" **_

"_**Of course, right this way madam." **_

_**The woman led me down the short corridor and then gestured towards a wooden panelled changing room. **_

"_**Thanks." **_

_**I quickly changed after closing the heavy wooden door behind me and then examined myself in the mirror. The black leather was incredibly tight on my legs, so much so that I had almost ripped it into pieces trying to pull them on. With hesitation, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. To give Alice a little credit, I supposed they looked alright. A little odd perhaps. But what's the point in existing if you're just going to follow the crowd? There was a knock on the door, and to avoid another debate, I let her in immediately. **_

_**She looked me over quickly with a delighted expression due to her success in finding me something fashionable that actually fit comfortably. "I love them, I'll buy them for you Bella. Try these on next!"**_

"_**Alice, you don't have to buy me anything. For one, I don't need any more clothes, two, I don't even want to celebrate my birthday, and three, I have more than enough money to buy myself these sort of things when and where I need them." I let my bottom lip jut out sulkily. "You know I don't like attention." **_

"_**Bella..." Alice's voice was horrifically distraught. I almost turned around to comfort her, before remembering what she was trying to get. However hard I tried not to make eye contact with her, as I was extremely easily swung by her desperate pleading face, I still could see her face in the mirror from the corner of my eye. It reminded me of when she was attempting to persuade me to allow her to plan my wedding, an uncanny match, in fact. And I couldn't resist. **_

"_**Fine. You'll just have to put up with my bad moods for the rest of the day." **_

"_**Thank you." **_

"_**You'll regret it." **_

"_**No I won't." And with that she bundled the next catwalk fresh outfit into my arms and skipped outside to wait while I changed. **_

_**We shopped for hours, more hours and then another hour on top of that. Yet I couldn't use the excuse that my feet were hurting or that my arms were tired as a reason to head back to the car. My sister dragged me through shop after shop, filling my hands with more and more bags and boxes of stilettos and boots. My mind was wandering all day but it wasn't until we both slumped into the car and drove out onto the main road that I managed to move my mouth to say what I needed to.**_

"_**Alice, I'm worried about Renesmee," I told her, staring down at the photo of me, Edward and Renesmee that was wedged in the plastic slot in my purse. Happy faces, adoring faces. Stupid, STUPID, JACOB BLACK! **_

"_**Everyone is Bella," Alice answered, snapping me from my rather unnecessary mental abuse of the dog's name. **_

"_**I know." I knew they were worried, mainly about her injuries, but they were on the mend and soon would be gone. I was focused on something a little more long-term than that. "I'm worried about something in particular."**_

"_**Which is?" she urged. **_

"_**She's not going to forget about Jacob, ever, is she?"**_

_**Alice didn't speak for a while – which only told me that she thought the same. He'd already burned his mark on her, and it wasn't going to fade away with time. I knew it. My hands balled into fists before Alice tried to cover up her silence with a supposed reassurance. "I can't read her mind Bella. I can't give you an answer to that."**_

"_**Can you look at her future," I asked, feeling more and more guilty with each word. It wasn't right to invade her personal thoughts this way, but I had to make sure she was going to be safe in the coming days. "I know you can't look at her but can you look around, at the rest of us. Just to see what's coming soon, please." **_

_**She nodded, turning off the main road onto a dirt track. "I should probably stop driving first." **_

"_**We'll swap. I can carry on down the highway while you look, it'll make it quicker to get back." **_

"_**Quicker? With you at the wheel?" She raised her eyebrows, braking and bringing the car to a halt beside some overgrown ferns. "You'd better drive more than two miles per hour Bella, my patience with you is running out." **_

"_**Do you want to end up involved with the police, having to pay for a stupid ticket and being put on their records forever?" I exclaimed, unbuckling my belt and climbing out of my side. **_

"_**At your speed we'll get arrested for going too **_**slow**_** Bella," she giggled as we passed at the front of the car. "Edward wasted his money buying you a Ferrari, I bet you'll never get up to its full speed." **_

_**I climbed into the driver's seat, she was already in where I had sat before. "Do you want a bet?" **_

"_**No thank you, I'm already in enough trouble with Edward. I'm not sure he would appreciate me taking something else off you." She grinned at me deviously. I almost slapped her. **_

_**Instead of that, I started the engine and reversed back into the undergrowth. Alice swung her head down into her hands and closed her eyes tightly; so I proceeded to accelerate out onto the main road in silence. The traffic was busy, the same as every other weekday at this time – the rush hour for everyone. Consequently, we were only travelling freely for around thirty seconds before I hit the tail of a traffic-jam and was forced to slow to a mere crawl. At that moment, I decided to thank my lucky stars that Alice had declined the bet, otherwise I would have been some money, and a chunk of dignity, down. I sat still, staring out of the windscreen at the back of the Land Rover in front of me, for several minutes, only occasionally pressing down the accelerator the tiniest bit. Until my phone beeped. I looked up at Alice anxiously hoping that it hadn't disturbed her. All I saw was a blank expression. **_

_**The message I'd received precisely five seconds before looking read: Where are you? Is Alice stopping you from coming back? Do you want me to come and fetch you? **_

_**From Edward, obviously. I glanced up, checking there were no cop cars pulled up beside me, and then quickly replied: She was, but we're on our way now. It's a bit late for the rescue mission. We're stuck in the rush hour traffic. You have no idea how infuriating it is to have to sit here stationary. I'll be back soon. Miss you. **_

_**Again, if Renesmee had seen that last line, she would be pretending to wretch. I could sympathise, when Renee first met Phil they had been all over each other. The middle aged mom and the minor leaguer. It wasn't the best period of my life. I missed my Mom. More than anything. And I hated having to tear myself from her life this way, she wouldn't have a clue. I was going to have to arrange something soon, perhaps my funeral, perhaps not. I wasn't sure. **_

_**Another reply: Hm, do you think someone would notice if you climbed out and legged it. **_

_**I looked up again, trying to disguise a smirk as I analysed how alert the other drivers looked. The man in the white van next to me looked to be asleep. I, as an easily distracted human, had found driving exceedingly boring and tiring. **_

_**I tapped the screen with my nails: Probably not, actually. But I don't think it's quite worth the risk. I'll be back soon. Love you. **_

_**Alice's expression became annoyed as my cell beeped loudly again. I checked the message that simply read: Love you more. And then turned it off and stuffed it into my bag. **_

"_**I'm done," Alice gasped, sitting up straight again. Her sudden speech made me jump a little and flick the indicators on by accident. **_

"_**What did you see?" I asked, fumbling around for the lever to turn them off in her high-tech robot of a car. **_

"_**You really are an odd immortal Bella," she remarked. As if I hadn't been told that enough by everybody, primarily Emmett. **_

_**I edged the car forward a bit more. "Thank you. Now please tell me what you saw." **_

"_**Her future is all over the place. It changed three times while I was watching and I would put money on the fact that it's changing again right now. She can't make up her mind about what she wants to do now." **_

"_**What were the choices..." I urged her on, needing more information. **_

"_**I couldn't really tell Bella, all I could see was everyone's futures blurred by her presence. One of them seemed fine, just you, Edward and her in the forest, running, well racing of course. One of the others seemed like she was arguing with somebody, the person altered several times in the minute I watched. And the other was so hazy that I don't even know where it was set or what anybody was doing in the scene. I think you need to get Edward to help you, he can hear exactly what she's debating about. I'm not really much help until she's set on exact options, which she doesn't seem to be right now." **_

"**Great," **_**I groaned.**_

"_**I'm sorry I'm not much help Bella. There's not much else I can try and do," she apologized, sounding disappointed in herself. **_

"_**No, it's fine Alice, really. Thank you for trying. I'm just worried that she's going to do something rash." **_

"_**You worry too much Bella, relax, the dangers gone. We just need to get back to normal," she comforted me. **_

"_**How...?"**_

"_**Time Bella, we have too much on our hands anyway, perhaps we needed something to occupy it with. Maybe this was some sort of destiny, a problem to overcome and all that jazz." **_

"_**I'd have preferred something a little less... pressurised as a gift from fate, than having to put up with all of this."**_

"_**When life gives you lemons..." she sang, expecting me to complete the phrase correctly. **_

"_**I don't like lemonade." My bottom lip jutted out, and I couldn't find the happiness to pull it back in. **_

"_**You are unbelievably negative Bella, I'm going to have to get Edward to sort you out," she sighed, shaking her head from side to side at both me **_**and **_**the traffic jam we were still wedged in. "Nice job with him the other day though. I didn't think anyone was going to be able to fix him other than Renesmee – and that wasn't coming very quickly. Why can't you use that method on yourself?" **_

"_**It's not as easy as that. She's isn't your daughter Alice, you don't understand." **_

_**She didn't answer. I listened back to my own words in my head and listened to how harsh they sounded. Alice had never had the opportunity to have children of her own, nobody to look after as her own family, unless a lost Jasper fell into that category. I didn't know if she'd ever desired a child, but my words would have hit her below the belt anyhow. Saying that she wouldn't understand was out of order too, because I knew she would understand. They all loved her just as much as I did, and I couldn't use the fact that I was her parent against her. Alice was her aunt and she cherished her niece more than anything in the world. **_

"_**Sorry..."**_

"_**I understand Bella. You don't think I'm worried too?" **_

"_**Yes, sorry. I.. I just can't think straight. There's so much. It's all going to end badly. I can't stand having it all in my head at once." **_

"_**That's it, I'm setting Edward on you when we get back." **_

"_**What exactly are you going to ask him to do?" **_

"_**Distract you, he can interpret that how he likes. I'm not particularly bothered about the specifics, as long as you sort yourself out fairly soon." **_

"_**I'll make an effort." **_

"_**Good," she snapped. "It is your birthday after all Bella! You should be happy today of all days." **_

_**We spent the rest of the ride in silence. Alice sat with her arms firmly crossed staring out of the windshield in disappointment and me, bottom lip jutted out further than ever, slumped in my depressed state. It took Alice only a second to jump out of the car and shoot into the house when I parked up on the driveway, leaving me alone in the driver's seat. I clambered out, dragging my feet across the gravel, and collected the bags from the trunk. Then made my way into the empty hallways and let them all clatter to the floor.**_

"_**Good day?" Edward asked, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. He squeezed me lightly as I laid my head back onto his shoulder bone. **_

"_**I suppose," I mumbled, showing no hints of positivity."Alice has bought me an entire new closet load of clothes. Best day in the world." **_

_**He chuckled lightly, and then trailed off into silence as he picked up on my mood. As he spun me around I tried to pull my frown into something a little more birthday-like, unsuccessfully. "What's up Bella? Alice is shouting at me in my head telling me to distract you, or something along those lines." **_

"_**The same things that were up with you I suppose. Just being a mom I guess..." **_

"_**Do you **_**want**_** me to distract you?" His scent made the venom in my mouth swirl. **_

_**Although I knew his kisses would mute my thoughts and worries, it didn't seem appropriate to block them out right now. There was danger here. I couldn't just ignore it and give myself over to my own need for pleasure when lives could be at risk. That was totally and utterly beyond selfish. But that was me, and I couldn't stop myself... "Yes." **_

_**He groaned in desire and pressed his silky lips to the hollow of my neck.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five; Urgent

Three weeks past us by with no particularly interesting events. Renesmee's condition had wavered, sloped lower and lower and then shot up to the sky. After a couple of days she'd managed to stand up unaided and then proceeded to walk up and down the hallway with supervision until everyone was certain she wouldn't collapse. It was odd to see her walking around the house – every time she came through the door I jumped when I saw who it was. An irrational response for something harmless to me. Alice emptied all the shopping bags from the city onto the shelves and rails in my closet and had been providing new 'experimental' outfits for each day since. It was now early November, so she'd enjoyed combining cashmere jumpers, with leather jackets and delicate scarves to create suitably fashionable outfits with plenty of layering. It took quite a bit of effort to remember to thank her for her genius each morning when I didn't exactly like the thing I was receiving, but she deserved it for the amount of work she put in, so I made sure that I did.

Everyone was generally in better spirits than before. Including me, surprisingly. The mask of the happy atmosphere didn't always keep away the worries though. The worries of what was coming for us next. Although, it was hard to worry when you didn't have a clue what you should be picturing in your head, but I managed to succeed each night in the silence given while Renesmee fell asleep. Well, until Edward whisked my mind away to think over more tranquil and stunning things – like the present. When his warm kisses melted my frozen thoughts I always shuddered in happiness and then I couldn't stop myself from pulling him closer to my body and leaving what the future may become floating in the distance where it should belong.

"Morning honey." His breath ruffled my hair pleasantly as I opened my eyes. Last night we'd managed to make it to our own bed to begin what we desired to do all night instead of crashing on the floor of Renesmee's bedroom. A very rare event.

"Morning," I replied as my throat went up in ripping flames. "Can we hunt today, please?"

I hadn't gone on the last trip, instead I'd stayed back to get some time alone when nobody could see my expressions. While they were gone, I'd let myself miss Jacob. His actions hadn't completely tore away my feelings for him – but they had taken most of them when he ran off into the forest. Even though I hated him I couldn't simply forget and disregard the past. The memories of Jacob, smiling and playing out in the garden with me daughter wouldn't go away. At least it gave me something to hold on to when the rest of him had gone...

"I'm sorry, it's been over a week. You must be so thirsty." He pressed his fingers to my neck so the external cold seeped into the internal warmth. "Renesmee will come too, she's a little thirsty."

"It's bearable," I reassured him. "Is she awake?"

"No, not yet. I'll get everything ready so we can go straight away." He stood up swiftly and placed three fingers under my burning chin."You don't need to downplay anything Bella. I know how it's hurting you."

"Sorry."

"Why do you apologize for everything? You've never done anything wrong!"

With a deep sigh and a slow shake of the head, he slid out of the room. I heard his soft footsteps as he descended the stairs. If only what he'd said was true. I'd done so much wrong in my life that wounded other people that I would give anything to start it over – as long as it followed the same positive events. A friendship with Jacob, meeting Edward, getting married, becoming a vampire, having my daughter, staying with the Cullen's for eternity. I knew that I would never get my way of a perfect life, but it was so blissful to be able to dream! To think of all the good parts together created a feeling of immense pleasure and gratefulness for what I had. I could never lose anything, ever.

Watching Edward hunt was like watching a documentary on the TV. The way he moved towards the animals and the way that he knew exactly where and when to strike reminded me of watching wild animals that hunted for every moment of their lives. It was either hunt or be hunted for them every minute of the day. Edward didn't have to do that to stay alive, luckily, but he'd had a century of keeping himself fed and that had provided more than enough experience to make him an incredible hunter. While we were out I usually spent half the time gawking at how smooth he made all of his movements and that was probably the reason behind why my throat never seemed to stop aching. Even Renesmee made more progress than me every time, although, she did have incredible speed on her side.

As he finished his second stag and dropped the dried body to the ground I finally gained perspective on how much my throat was burning. It was as if someone had coated the inside of neck with gasoline and lit a match nearby. Water would not satisfy, but a certain thick red liquid that I could sense, smell, would do fine. So delectable, delicious, desirable, divine...

"Bella...?"

I started. Unaware of my movements I'd slipped down into a crouched position, my muscle's had wound up tightly ready to pounce, my hands had clawed, my mouth had dropped open exposing a set of venom covered teeth and a low, guttural snarl was coming from deep in my chest. At what? The air? Him? With a horrified gawp I straightened up and turned away before I could embarrass myself any more with that sort of animalised behaviour.

"Oh my god," I whispered, my voice cracked as I gulped back a strange emerging sob.

"Bella, what's wrong?"

"That!" What was wrong? Was he _blind?_!

"It's only because you haven't drunk Bella, it happens to everybody." He walked up to stand behind me and rested one hand on my shoulder. "There's some deer about a kilometre to my left, enough to feed the three of us easily. Are you okay to hunt, love?"

"Doesn't seem as if I've got much choice really does it?" I said. "Feed or be mentally impaired!"

"That's not what happened. You're instincts control themselves, it wasn't _you, _it was them."

My forehead creased as I tried to process the idea of how something inside me wasn't actually me, coming up with blanks each time I tried. Instead of questioning him, which would only draw on more confusion, I just shrugged and headed in the general direction he'd spoken of. It wasn't hard to catch the scent; the wind was whipping my hair about, lashing it onto my face and neck. The scent of them carried easily and then, as simply as that, their lives were over.

"You go on ahead, I'll get Renesmee," I told him, pressing him forward without me with my fingertips. It didn't have much of an effect when he set his mind on stopping.

He turned back to give me a concerned glance – one eyebrow raised as if he didn't believe that I would do what I'd said. But after a couple of seconds of looking back, expressionless, he gave in trying to see through a nonexistent mask and vanished through the mass of tangled branches and undergrowth.

In the distance I could hear my daughter's light footsteps prancing around in different directions. An odd sounding movement. Almost as if she was dancing around over the dry leaves.

"Renesmee! There are deer nearby, a lot, are you coming?" I shouted, beginning to jog over in the direction of her pattering steps.

"Yeah! I'm coming now!"

I slowed my jog to listen, but instead of coming closer, it sounded as if she was moving away from me. Into the distance.

"They're over here Renesmee, to your left!" I yelled into the trees, slowly and somewhat unwillingly drifting over to where I'd directed her as the fragrance of spilled blood caught the almost undivided attention of my senses.

"I know!" she replied. Yet, though she'd agreed, her footsteps continued to run _away_ instead of towards us and the nearby kill.

"Hey!" I called, fighting the urge to continue to drift. It was only after a couple of seconds of snapping my head from side to side between the blood and my daughter that I settled on what was right. Her. "Hey! Where are you going Renesmee?"

I started to run after her, faster and faster, unable to catch up to her incredible speed, until finally her footsteps slowed, stumbled then stopped. A short moment later she came into view and I ran up until I was able to rest my hands on her shoulders as casually as possible – yet steering her around in the same movement.

"Where were you going? They're over here..."

"There was... something, over there," she mumbled, looking longingly behind her as we walked the way I'd come. Before I had time to begin the worries, she made her statement into something more calming. "A large stag I think. It just smelled so good, sorry."

I smelled the cool morning air, and sighed. "Oh, right. No it's fine honey. Just... stay with us for now, alright?"

"Sure thing." She brushed my hand off her shoulder and sprinted ahead towards where I could hear Edward whizzing around, herding the deer so none would escape what had already become their destiny. As he came into my view he looked up with frown that would say 'I thought you were running away' if put in words. With a lot of effort I smiled wryly and ran forward to sink my teeth into the neck of the nearest doe, relieving the seemingly everlasting pain.

Bliss.

When we'd done with the first three animals, which didn't take very long at all, we dropped them to the ground and moved slowly round to the next lot – whose necks Edward had already broken to prevent them from escaping. Usually he wouldn't mind a chase, but he knew I was ravenous, so he'd done it the easy way today.

While Renesmee bent down to feed for the second time I slipped my hand into Edward's and spread my shield over my body and his, encasing us both in a form of safety. After a bit of investigation with Zafrina I'd discovered that doing this would enable me to let my thoughts known to him without speaking. He could read my mind like this, as he could do with everyone he'd met except me, but could only see what I allowed him too – which I guess was an extremely good thing. Anyone that had free reign to root around in my mind would probably come out with permanent depression.

'_Did you hear what she said to me out there?" _I thought, watching him with intense concentration from the corner of my eye. He started as my voice appeared in his head, but quickly covered it up by pulling me towards him so our bodies were pressed against each other.

It was only with that amount of focus that I caught the smallest incline of his head – a sort of code for a yes, a certainty.

'_Edward she lied about why she was going that way. My senses are stronger than hers by far and there was no scents or tracks of anything other than a single rabbit.' _

His nostrils flared and his teeth gritted. What a stupid time to tell him that something was wrong, right in front of her. How much more stupid could I get today? As I opened my mouth to say something calming, Renesmee straightened up and spoke instead.

"I'm heading back. I've got a painting to finish while you can still _see _the dead leaves." She laughed - a forced sound. "I can't wait for the snow to come. You know..."

I nodded and shot her back an amused smile, putting my very limited acting skills into action. "Are you sure you've had enough to drink? I don't think we'll be coming out to hunt for another week or so."

She'd already started walking away from me and shouted her response over her left shoulder with another shaky laugh. "Yeah, full to the brim."

"Go straight back to the house, please."

"Sure." With a quick childish twirl she began to sprint into the trees. "I'll see you later!"

"Okay..."

We stood in silence for a couple of seconds, waiting until she was out of the range of hearing our voices. When Edward's tense body relaxed I guessed it was alright to speak to him.

"Is she going straight back?" I asked as the sound of her racing footsteps disappeared into the forest.

He nodded, focused deeply on her thoughts in the distance. "But she wasn't full, nowhere near. Her throat still ached and her pupils were so wide..."

"Something's happening Edward. She knows something and she's trying to hide it from us."

"If she knew something I would hear it and I haven't, nothing out of the ordinary," he replied. Despite the somehow optimistic sound of his words, his face was stony and cold.

"But there is something wrong. I know it. Just watch her and you'll see that she's not acting normally!" He had to have seen it. Every so often at the most random of times she would spring to her feet and run up to her room. She explained it to be when she had got a sudden idea for her drawing or writing, and therefore she had to put it down on paper as soon as possible before it disappeared. This excuse was also used when we were going out somewhere, she would always ask to stay behind with Alice, Rose or Esme to finish her projects. I didn't believe a word, but the rest of them seemed to swallow it down with no second thoughts. Perhaps it was because if _I _had wanted to hide something from them as a human, it was what I would have done. Edward knew how my facial expressions matched my thoughts inside out. Maybe she knew that he had mastered hers too...

"I have seen it, but I saw it in you too while you were human and I didn't jump to conclusions – well, not every time – without waiting for certainty," he explained. Yes. I was right. "She's not going to be happy if she finds people stalking her around when her disposition is already fragile. If we push her too hard she'll just snap, and I don't know what she'd plan on doing if she did but it wouldn't be pretty. Not with your sense of drama inside her."

"I just..." I stopped, struggling with a simple way of summing up my wishes. "Can we just make sure she's not completely alone at any time? You know, with everything that's out there."

"Of course. I wouldn't allow her to go out alone. I'm not going to risk anything as stupid and naive as that ever again with her, it was unbelievably idiotic to leave her alone that vulnerable. Just try not to make it obvious, or she'll only be difficult."

I nodded, biting down on my lip hard.

"What if it's Jacob? What if she picked up the phone before someone else when he tried to call. He might be coming back Edward, coming back for her. To take her away from us."

"Coming back for her, or a fight..."

I looked up at him. His face was stone, neither excited or worried, but his eyes were glinting in what looked to me like vicious anticipation.

"Edward you can't, no matter what he's done. You can't risk it!"

"If he's coming back for her then I'm not just going to stand here and watch him get closer and closer without doing anything to warn him off."

"But you can't _fight _him," I whined desperately. Afraid of his sudden burst of determination to do something terribly dangerous. "What if he hurts you? What if you get distracted by something? There's nothing to guarantee that you'll win, anything could happen and knowing you, you won't let me be there to help if something goes wrong!"  
"I'd rather get hurt than you or Renesmee. Or anyone in this family for that matter." He stared away into the trees, as if talking to himself. "And yes, you would be nowhere near if it turned out that I had to fight him. I got you into this mess, I'll get you out of it."

"No self-sacrificial stuff now Edward!" Save that sort of thing for me to pull off, I added in my head sarcastically. "You know what would happen if it didn't go your way. He's not going to hold back after everything that's happened. No matter whose father you are and no matter who loves you more than anything. Jacob doesn't care about any of that anymore!"

"We'll see," he responded blankly. He wanted to fight with him, it was so darn right obvious, whereas I wouldn't want to fight with him at all... I didn't think I could get anymore hypocritical; I would rip Jacob Black's throat out myself if he came anywhere near Renesmee, for whatever reason.

"No we won't!"  
He sighed and then shrugged. I felt a sudden swell of panic surge up inside me as I registered the fact that he didn't agree with my demand. With an opportunity, he _would _fight.

"I think we should go back now, check on her," he suggested. "Are you full enough?"

I nodded still dazed by the shock of a violent, even if subtle, hint to his attitude. Unable to consider the prospect of running I clambered onto his back and rested my forehead on the ridge of his shoulder-blade. He didn't ask, thankfully.

Renesmee had drawn, painted, sketched, crayoned and shaded her works all afternoon – from the moment she'd got in until the moment she came down to say goodnight. Personally she'd never given anyone permission to look at her art, but the moment when she fell asleep was an obvious opportunity and we soon had found ourselves admiring the intricate scenes and portraits in the little light that managed to squeeze through the gap under her door. However, as I whispered my comments to Edward she stirred and groaned in her sleep like she always did when about to wake. So we made an immediate exit to avoid destruction.

For the rest of the night I'd sat on Edward's lap held tightly in his arms while they watched CNN attentively for any signs of trouble. I knew it was important and something that I should be watching with extreme concentration, but the monotone voice of the presenter just lulled me into daydream. I was so bored that I was about to drag Edward upstairs by any way possible when Alice burst through the French doors.

"There's a scent, a vampire, in the forest, by the river!" The words spilled out of her mouth as quickly as water from a gushing waterfall. "It's not one of us and it's not one of the Denali or anyone else that I've met before. Someone new. Someone new that we don't know. And I don't know what to look for in the future because I don't know who it is which only complicates everything and makes it more and more dangerous for everyone and-"

"Stop Alice," Carlisle interrupted, his eyes already wide with sudden panic and fear. "Where was the scent?"

"A couple of miles North in a wide arc to the West. I didn't carry on following it when I reached the river," she replied, her eyes full of pulsing fright too. It was only when I saw her expression that the level of seriousness made itself known, and then the nightmares began to filter into my mind...

"It could have just been nomads, but with everything that's happened I don't reckon we should risk it," Rose said coolly, walking over from the other side of the room. I hadn't even noticed her arrival amidst my sudden surge of worries.

"We need to get out there," Edward stated. The expression on his face intimidated me, it was stern and a little ferocious. If anything out there was wishing to harm one of this coven, they'd regret getting near him. "Now."

"I'll stay here with Renesmee. Just make sure one of you is close enough to come and help if they slip through you." Esme spoke mainly to Carlisle than to any of the rest of us but I knew their relationship well enough not to take the slight ignorance offensively. When she got his acceptance through a nod she spun and shot out of the room before anyone could say anything else. Almost simultaneously Carlisle and Edward started towards the French doors.

"Bring it on," Emmett growled as he followed.

Carlisle's whole body stiffened at the hint of a wish for violence. He shouldn't have expected anything else from _him_. Emmett would fight anybody purely for sheer pleasure, even if they had done nothing to offend him personally. He wasn't bad or evil or anything close to that, but he was childlike, and the thought of a scrap excited him. Verbal negotiating was not Emmett. "We're not wanting a fight or any more threats on top of what we already have. Just make sure they're not coming dangerously close and we'll be fine."

"Sure, sure," he mumbled, bored of the peaceful facade. "What if they want a fight?"

"We'll give them it," Alice murmured, not sounding at all like she was up for giving anyone a fight. Her high-pitched voice made her sound so fragile that the fight would only last a second or two before she crumbled into dust on the floor. She pushed her shoulders back and, by Jasper's side, ran out of the door into darkness. I was frozen in place. My heart yearned to go and whisk Renesmee into my arms to hide her from the danger but my head ordered me to follow the rest of them and help stop the cause before it could advance any closer. The debate had me stuck as if my feet had been secured to the floor with superglue.

"Bella?" Edward asked anxiously, peering back through the doorway like he had not noticed me not following them before he'd taken a couple of steps towards the forest. "You don't have to come. You can stay back here with Esme, it's fine."

"No, I'll come," I quickly decided, doing what would be most helpful for everyone.

"Seriously, Bella, no one will mind." He put on his pleading face, even this tiny little threat was enough to get him severely worried over my safety. I summoned up enough strength to ignore him though, he may care about my safety, but _I _had much more important priorities than that.

"Do you want my help or not?"

He sighed and stepped back as I took the line-crossing step outside. I didn't make eye contact in case he had decided to continue to plead but I saw his gestures from the corner of my eye.

"Head straight out that way," he instructed. "If you get anything I'll be close enough to hear you if you shout and I'll come straight to you. Don't fight, or get too close. Please, Bella. Now isn't the time for heroics."

"Who said I was planning to get myself into trouble?" I asked, offended that people though so much of me.

"No one." He chuckled in amusement, but it only lasted for a couple of seconds. Then his face smoothed back out into focused, serious marble and he disappeared into the trees. it was hard to watch his disappear and then go in my own direction, alone. But after a couple of seconds I managed to do it – sprinting through the forest until I reached a suitable clearing to stop in.

I stood amongst the trees and stared into the darkness. What was I supposed to do? Nobody had given me any instructions telling me how to go about checking for scent tracks and what to do if I found one... It maybe natural to them to go out searching for an enemy. I didn't want to consider how many times they'd all had to go through this routine before, especially since I came into their lives. To me it all felt a little odd and totally confusing.

In fact, I felt rather ridiculous as I stuck out my chin and took a deep breath in through my nose. After all, it had only been five years since I'd been changed, and not all of the new concepts had sunk in yet. The air was full of swirling scents, some strong and pungent, others mild and subtle. I could pick out so many things that it was almost impossible to decide where to start.

There was the clear, fresh smell of earthy water somewhere in the distance. Sounds matched the smells too, there was a soft, gentle, trickling sound of slow streams running down over rocks. Closer, the scent of pine residue was a huge battering ram to my senses. With nearly all the trees in this forest smelling the same, the combined scent was quite overwhelming. Pulses of thick blood were easy to smell through the mask of vegetation though as I had become so attuned to that scent that I would be able to pick it out even from amongst the most pungent of things. Short and sharp breaths accompanied the mouth-watering smell. However, it was just herbivore blood and therefore I could easily resist going after it. Edward had let me in on things so much more delectable than that, carnivores, bears, mountain lions...

My throat began to ache and throb as I thought of things I shouldn't. This was one of the changes that I still hadn't quite adjusted too. Thinking about murdering animals that had done nothing wrong was horrible, but sometimes I couldn't stop myself from the pure need for blood. Blood. Blood. I took another deep breath to get rid of that scent and find another to focus on. And I smelt it. One of our kind. A tangy, orangey sort of scent that should belong in a greengrocers. None of our scents were natural in a human way. As the world's most dangerous predator we were created to do more than interest the prey, we invited them in, we caught them in our webs, we made them want us through looks, devious smiles, perfect teeth and entrancing smells. Just like how Edward's scent had been a sort of drug to me. It had made me happier each time I smelt it, and I had once held on to his jacket just to keep that delight beside me. Although, this new smell did not excite me or make me want to come closer as it should do, _this _scent scared the wits out of me. I froze, not sure what to do. I could hear footfalls coming closer making the dry autumn leaves crackle and break apart.

"Edward..." My voice was just a mere breath that stirred the air a little, there was no sound content to it at all. As I waited, rooted to my spot beside a towering pine, the footsteps came even closer as if the owner of them was oblivious to my presence. Or maybe they were exactly the opposite. Maybe they knew I was here, and they were heading straight towards me on purpose, to capture me, to fight me, the possibilities were endless.

I cleared my throat and spoke again, yet still it was only a tiny whisper that would be impossible to hear from the distance he was apart from me. "Edward..."

Through the darkness a figure emerged. Even from metres away and through the navy blue light I could see that their silhouette was broad and muscular. When no hair flew up into the air in the light breeze like mine was doing, I guessed that it was most probably a male. There was no doubt that they would have seen me or at least sensed my presence in some way, shape or form. However they continued to come closer and closer towards me as if I posed no threat to them. They were either very sexist, very stupid or very, very confident. Another word caught in my throat, unable to make its way out.

The same moment seemed to repeat itself over and over. They took another heavy step, I took a sharp intake of breath and then there was silence. Then that would happen again and then again. No one had heard or smelt this from where they were patrolling. At least, not yet...

"Hello there."

My throat let out some sort of strangled whimper, so pathetic. The figure stopped and stood still amongst the trees, feet apart, shoulder's pushed back. If this was meant to be intimidating, it was working extremely well!

"You're a beauty."

Such a charmer. This was a method of hunting for a lot of my kind that had chosen to follow who they were 'supposed' to be – charm, seduce, kiss, kill. Simple, and sick.

"Shame we'll have to ruin that."


End file.
